Life Changing
by Bluebell140
Summary: Life was perfect until Jessica died because Jasmine arrived. Now two years on would a change of home, be life changing? Troyella!
1. Fresh Start

**Here's a new one for you guys, hopefully you'll like it, enjoy! **

**I don't own anything!**

Fresh Start

Troy Bolton's life was pretty perfect. He lived with both his parents, his school grades were good, he had a great group of friends, he was captain of the school basketball team and he'd been in a strong relationship with his girlfriend, Jessica, for six months now.

But all that came crashing down when Jessica told him that she was pregnant. Troy was silent at first, he had no idea how to react to this, but then reality pulled him back, Jessica was scared, and to be truthful so was he, but he was the one who'd gotten her pregnant he wasn't just about to walk away; he wasn't that type of person.

So, after sitting down and talking the pair decided they'd keep the baby, it was their mistake and so they would deal with it. Troy would get a job he could do while still at school and Jessica would finish this year of school before leaving and having the baby in the summer.

The worst part of it all was telling their parents; Jack and Lucille Bolton didn't let the pair stay around long enough to hear them out, they gave Troy half and hour to pack and then told him he was no longer welcome at their house.

Jackie and Elliot Shears weren't quite as harsh; they were going on holiday for the week and so Troy and Jessica could stay there for now, by the time they were back, Troy, Jessica and all their belongings needed to be out of their house. They did though give the young pair some money, it was money intended for Jessica when she went to college, but seeing as that was unlikely to happen now, they gave it to the pair so they could find some where to live and pay the rent while they got themselves on their feet.

So, that is exactly what Troy and Jessica did; they found a small two bed roomed flat with reasonable rent and moved into it straight away.

Things didn't go smoothly after that, but the pair made it through, They still went to school, unless Jessica's morning sickness was bad, in which case Troy would go in, grab some work for them to do and then come straight back home again. Jessica started buying things they would need for the baby, using the money Troy was earning from his new job as a life guard at the local leisure centre, and most importantly they both went to every appointment Jessica needed to attend and their baby was doing absolutely fine.

That all changed though, when in the very early hours of June fourteenth, Jessica's waters broke and she went into labour. Troy took her straight to hospital and was by her side the entire time. Jasmine Marie Bolton was born early that morning, shortly after seven am, she was beautiful and she was theirs. But that all went down hill when Jessica lost consciousness; she was bleeding out. The doctors tried to stop the bleeding, but the more they tried, the more she bled.

Jessica was pronounced dead at seven thirty eight that morning, and at that moment, Troy was also pronounced a single father.

Everything after that was a whirl wind for Troy; he had a funeral to arrange, people to contact and at the same time he needed to come to terms with being a single Dad.

Jessica's funeral was a week and a half after she died, and although both sets of their parents attended, neither actually spoke to Troy, or even tried to hold their new granddaughter.

Troy visited both sets of grandparents later that week in an attempt to get them back in Jasmine's life at least; but neither set wanted to know.

Jack and Lucille were sorry that Jessica was gone and although they did both hold Jasmine this time, they were both too ashamed in what Troy had done to have him in their lives anymore, they'd brought him up better than that.

Jackie and Elliot both held Jasmine the same as Jack and Lucille, but they also told Troy there was no way that he and Jasmine could be in their lives. They were moving, out of Albuquerque, away from everything that reminded them of their late daughter, and most heart breaking for Troy was that Jasmine was the biggest reminder. The longer they stayed in Albuquerque the longer they would mourn their daughter, and they couldn't do that forever, they needed to move on.

The next couple of months in Troy's life revolved around three things: school, work and of course Jasmine.

He needed his job to keep the flat and his thirteen year old neighbour and her Mum were more than happy to baby sit, they had been in the same boat as Troy, they understood.

He needed to go to school, to get _himself_ an education, to get _himself_ a decent job, to give _Jasmine_ the best life possible, the local crèche was where she went while he did this.

Looking after Jasmine was of course a given; he had no idea what he was doing, but he was learning, and although he didn't always get it right, more often than not, Jasmine was a happy little baby.

But during those couple of months Troy felt himself being more and more pushed out by his friends. They were of course upset over Jessica's death, but they got over it quick than him, they hadn't just lost the mother of their new born child.

They still involved Troy in things, of course they did, but many of them he just couldn't attend, this started to annoy them.

He always used to come to parties, to the mall, to the park, to the other's houses, but now he couldn't, now Jasmine was his priority, now Troy was a Dad.

Troy put up with their constant jokes and picking at him for a while, but one day he snapped, one day he just couldn't take it anymore.

He went to the school office, told them he couldn't take it anymore, and left.

He went straight to collect Jasmine from her crèche; he paid them any outstanding fees, and then left.

For the next few weeks Troy pulled as many shifts as possible at the leisure centre, he had a plan, and for this plan he needed to start earning a lot more money, he needed to start saving up.

His neighbours were more than happy to take care of Jasmine, and that's exactly what they did, until Troy had enough money to do what he needed to do.

He spoke to his boss and found out that what he wanted to do was possible and that he'd help Troy as much as possible.

So, as the summer before Troy's senior year approach and Jasmine was about to turn two, he made a life changing decision, him and Jasmine were moving away, starting a fresh.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy was already awake when his alarm went off that morning. Today was his first day of senior year at a new school and today was Jasmine's first day at the local nursery.

The pair had moved as soon as the summer holidays started, and although Troy was kinda sad to say goodbye to his neighbours, he knew a fresh start was what he and Jasmine needed the most.

That was the reason why he'd be going to East high instead of West, and why when he went to work tonight, he'd been going to East Albuquerque leisure centre, instead of West.

This flat was bigger than their last, more like an apartment and Jasmine loved it, there was loads of room for her to run around and play.

Their landlord was lovely and had already offered Troy his daughter's baby sitting skills when Troy had asked if he knew of any decently charging ones in the area. The lived on the same floor as them, the top and Mike had said that Jenni could baby sit whenever, all Troy had to do was shout, literally!

Sighing, Troy kicked the covers off of his body, turned the alarm off before it went off, and them wandered into his en-suite to take a shower. How an apartment this big, with an en-suite was affordable to him, he had no idea, but he wasn't complaining.

After taking a quick shower, Troy threw on a t-shirt and some jeans before quickly making his hair look slightly presentable and them leaving his room to wake the most important person in his life.

Jasmine Marie Bolton was one of the happiest two year olds you could meet. She had her mother's chestnut coloured, wispy hair, but her fathers tanned skin complexion and his piercing blue eyes.

She knew her Mummy wasn't here anymore, she was with the angels, and this was all she was going to know until she was old enough to understand properly why her birthday had a double meaning to her father.

As he opened her bedroom door that morning Troy found his daughter already awake, sitting up in bed, mumbling away to her teddy Rosie. Troy had absolutely no idea how the bear had come to be named Rosie, but it had, and so that's the way it stayed.

Troy walked over, turned off Jasmine's night light, opened her curtains and made his way over to her bed.

"Daddy!" The small girl exclaimed, as Troy sat next to her on her bed.

"Hey sweetie, how are you and Rosie today?"

"Fine."

"That's good then, shall we get you dressed?"

Jasmine nodded and held her arms out to Troy, allowing him to pick her up and take her over to her wardrobe.

"What do you want to wear for you first day of nursery? How about your red dress?"

"Okay Daddy." Troy took the dress out of the wardrobe and after grabbing some white socks and such, Troy proceeded to get his daughter dressed.

**TGTGTGTG**

He'd always hated leaving her, right from when she was a new born baby, and now that she was older and understood more of what was happening she got even more upset.

Breakfast had been normal, Troy had sat a still slightly sleepy Jasmine in front of the telly while he made breakfast and then they sat on the couch together, eating their toast and watching the telly.

Even when Troy had gotten up and started clearing away and packing their bags Jasmine hadn't really realised anything was different.

It was only now, when Troy was carrying her towards a new building, that she realised something was different.

"No Daddy." Jasmine started to cry and buried her face in the crook of Troy's neck as she tightened her grip on him.

"I know Jazzy and I'm sorry, but Daddy needs to go to school so you need to come here, I bet you'll have a great time when we're inside."

"No Daddy." Jasmine repeated, as Troy pressed a button next to the main doors, and was met by a plump, middle aged lady.

"Ah new people, you must be Troy and Jasmine?" She asked.

"That's us, I'm sorry we're here early, but I knew she'd take longer to settle today, so I've given myself longer to be here with her before I head off to school, I hope that's okay?"

"That's fine honey, I'm Julie by the way, what school did you say you were going to attend today?"

"East High." Troy answered. He'd gotten the number for this nursery from Mike, who said he'd sent all of his children there and it was a great place to go.

"Oh yes I remember now, it's just up the road, it's a lovely school, you'll fit in well. Why don't we go inside and get Jasmine settled so you can head on your way?"

"Led the way."

Julie led them through to a large room, which had a variety of smaller rooms branching off of it. The room was big and colourful; exactly the kind of place Jasmine would love.

Troy placed Jasmine on the floor and bent down to her level as she took in her new surroundings.

"What do you think Jazzy? Will you and Rosie like it here while Daddy's at school?"

Jasmine slowly nodded her head, as she moved in between Troy's legs to lean against him while keeping a watchful eye on Julie.

"That's Julie; she's going to look after you while you're here, okay?"

Jasmine once again nodded slowly, as Julie bent down to be level with her and Troy.

"Hi Jasmine, how are you today?"

"Fine."

"Who's this then?" Julie asked, as she gestured towards the cuddly bear held tightly against Jasmine's chest.

"She Rosie."

"She's very fluffy; I've got a dolly named Rosie, would you and your Rosie like to meet her?"

Jasmine turned to Troy for reassurance. "It's okay sweetie, you can meet her." Troy said, as he ran his hand through Jasmine's shoulder length hair.

The small girl smiled, as she turned back round to look at Julie. "Yes pwease."

Troy knew from that moment on, as Jasmine went off to meet the dolly Rosie, that she'd fit in here just fine, now all he need to do was fit in at school.

**TGTGTGTG**

The brunette let a smile form on her lips, as she read the text from her friend.

_Running late, can you meet the new kid in the office for me? C_

Sighing she put the last of her books for the morning into her bag before replying to the text.

_Why am I not surprised? You owe me. G _

She shut her locker before turning and making her way down the corridor towards the school's office.

She walked in and leant against the reception desk, as she waited for the school receptionist to finish what she was doing.

"Oh Gabriella sweetie, I didn't see you there, what a surprise, what are you doing here?"

"Hey Mrs Bearn, I'm here because Chad is running late, again, so he sent me to meet the new kid, he owes me now though, I think I'll make him buy me lunch."

Mrs Bearn laughed. "That sounds like a fair deal to me; anyway you're here to meet the new student. Troy, sweetie could you come over here please?"

Gabriella watched, as a boy with short sandy blonde hair, tanned skin and piercing blue eyes got up and made his way over to them.

"Troy, this isn't Chad like your welcome pack says; this is who he's sent in his place. This is Gabriella, she had no idea she doing this until about ten minutes ago, so be nice to each other. No, I'm only kidding, Gabriella's quite new here herself so she's the perfect person to show you around until Chad can be bothered to show up, any questions?"

"No I think I'm good thanks Mrs Bearn."

"Okay well you know where I am if Gabriella abandons you as well, I very much doubt that though, Gabriella sweetheart, he's all yours."

Gabriella shook her head at Mrs Bearn, before nodding her head at the door in a gesture for Troy to follow.

"So, welcome to East High." Gabriella started off hesitantly; she wasn't too good at this type of thing.

"Thanks, so how long have you been coming here then?"

"About a year now, I was still the newest 'til you took that crown. Sorry you're stuck with me, they try and give you some one of the same sex, so you can hopefully stay together all day, become friends for life, that kinda rubbish, but Chad's probably the worst person to ask to do this, he's bad in the mornings."

"Its fine honestly, you seem to be friends with Chad, so I'm sure I'll meet him in the end."

"Yeah, he usually walks in_ just_ before the bell rings. Can I see your schedule, we've got ten minutes 'til homeroom, although I'm guessing because they put you with Chad you're probably in ours, so I haven't gotta walk you anywhere else."

Troy handed Gabriella his schedule and watched as her eyes scanned it. "Unfortunately for you, you have most of your classes with Chad, but you do have family living and cooking with me, so you aren't stuck with him forever." Gabriella said, as she handed back his schedule.

"Is Chad really that bad?"

"No, he's lovely, he's become one of my closest friends since I started here, well he didn't have much choice really, they gave me his girlfriend to show me around and she made him be friends with me, he gave in quickly though. Chad just isn't the brightest button in the box when it comes to certain things, and most of the time he only makes it worse for himself."

Troy laughed. "I think me and him will get on pretty well then."

Gabriella laughed as well; she wasn't sure what was happening. She was normally really shy around new people, especially guys, but for some unknown reason she just found Troy easy to talk to, and unbeknown to her, he felt the same way.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy's first day at East High had gotten better and he'd got on really well with Gabriella and Chad's other friends.

There were the twins, Sharpay and Ryan, their partners, Kelsi and Zeke and finally Chad and his girlfriend Taylor.

They all welcomed Troy to their group straight away, and after making it through the day to lunch, where Gabriella did make Chad buy her lunch, Troy was pretty certain that moving was definitely one of the best things he'd done since Jasmine was born, he just hoped she'd had just as much of a first good day as he had.

At exactly three thirty he pulled his slightly battered old truck into Butterfly nursery's car park and hopped out, eager to see his little girl after a day of separation.

He pressed the button by the door and was buzzed in; he walked through to the main play room to find Jasmine sat quietly in the corner playing with both the Rosie's.

"She's been like that all day." Julie broke Troy's trance.

"Yeah she can play by herself all day if you let her, she's always been quiet, I'm not sure where she gets it from, her Mum had too much of a mouth on her, for it to come from her."

"She must get it from you then, her Mum died when?"

"The day she was born, two years ago. She delivered Jasmine alright, but something happened and she started bleeding out, all I know is from day one I'm all that little girl has had to depend on.

"And from what I can tell, you've done a pretty amazing job, she's an amazing little girl Troy, never forget that."

"I won't, she wouldn't let me."

"I bet, now what you standing here for, go and get her, take her home, and we'll see you around the same time tomorrow, she won't settle in straight away you know?"

"Yeah, same time." Troy answered, as he made his way across the room to greet his daughter, it was then he noticed everyone else was outside, Jasmine had opted to sat inside and play alone, he wasn't surprised.

"Hey Jazzy, what you up too?"

"Daddy!" The small girl immediately stopped what she was doing and ran straight into her father's arms.

Troy cuddled her close to his chest. "You ready to go home cutie?"

"Home." Jasmine agreed, as Troy put her down to collect her things before they said good bye and headed home.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy walked into his flat that evening to find Jenni pacing the living room area, trying to shush a crying Jasmine in her arms.

"Jenni, what's happening?" Troy asked, as he dropped his keys, phone and wallet on the kitchen counter.

"I'm not sure, she literally _just_ woke up crying, she has been asking for you all night though."

"Really, that's new, what's up Jazzy?" Troy asked, his daughter, as he took her out of Jenni's arms.

"Daddy, no go." Jasmine mumbled against his neck.

"I'm not going anywhere honey, I promise. You on the other hand need to head off Jenni." Troy said, as he made his way over to his wallet to hand Jenni some money for her baby sitting.

"Yeah I guess you're right, thanks Troy, bye Jasmine."

Jasmine half waved to Jenni as she made her way out of the door and Troy walked them over there to lock it.

"Okay cutie, how about you cuddle on the couch with Daddy while he does his homework and then you can come to bed with me, deal?"

"Deal." Jasmine agreed, as Troy grabbed his school bag before situating them both on the couch.

**TGTGTGTG**

An hour later the pair lay cuddled up in Troy's bed, as he gently tried to soothe Jasmine back to sleep.

She'd almost fallen asleep on the couch a couple of times, but there was always something that woke her straight back up again.

Now however, in the comfort of her Daddy's arms and in his bed did she finally seem to be giving in to sleep.

Today had been a whirl wind for them both, and although it would take that bit longer for Jasmine to settle in at nursery, Troy was pretty sure he was settled at East High.

The one thing that kept bothering him though was the reaction Gabriella had to a statement in their family living class, 'love me no matter what, do they heck?' That was all she'd said to the idea that families loved us no matter what, but Troy sensed that her answer wasn't just an opinion, her answer seemed more of a fact, more like something she was experiencing.

But, as Jasmine's soft snores started to fill the room, he realised now wasn't the time to be worrying about that, the time for that was tomorrow, in their family living class, where he was sure something would big would take place.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, the first chapter of Life Changing, hope you liked it.**

**I can't promise you they'll all be this long, I'm just in a mood where writing is the best way of escape, so enjoy it while it lasts!**

**I wanna thank pumpkinking5 for reading over my idea for the story and giving me the courage to write it, thank you!**

**Anyway, did you like it? Should I continue? Let me know when you:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	2. A Cry For Help

**Here's the next chapter for you guys, enjoy!**

A Cry For Help

Getting up in the morning for any teenager was hard, especially if you've got a fully day of school ahead of you. But when you wake up to the smiling face of your daughter, starting your day at some horribly early hour, suddenly doesn't seem too bad.

"Daddy wake now." Jasmine said, as Troy opened his eyes,

"Yeah sweetie Daddy awake now." Troy answered, as he reached over Jasmine to turn off his alarm.

"Rosie wake." Jasmine stated, holding her bear up for Troy to see.

"That's good then 'cause you two need to go to nursery again today, is that okay?" Troy asked, as he lay on his side and watched Jasmine absentmindedly play with Rosie's fur.

"Daddy stay?"

"No I'm sorry sweetie Daddy can't stay he needs to go to school, but I'll stay for a little when I drop you off and then tonight we can play together because I haven't got to work, how does that sound?"

Jasmine shrugged. "You mean you don't want to play with Daddy tonight? Fine, I'll just play with Rosie and you can play in your room by yourself."

"No, Daddy play with Rosie _and_ Jasmine."

"Oh, so you want to play with us now, do you?"

Jasmine nodded. "That wasn't a proper answer; do you want to play with us?" Troy asked, as he tickled Jasmine's tummy making her squirm.

"Y-Yes." Jasmine managed to answer, as she tried to wriggle away from Troy's fingers.

"Okay." Troy said, as he stopped his tickling. "So, now that Daddy's going to play with you tonight, will you and Rosie go and have a good time at nursery for me?"

"Okay."

"That's my girl. Now how about we go get you dressed?"

Jasmine nodded, and slid of Troy's bed and turned to watch his movement.

He stayed still for a moment, knowing she was waiting for him to pounce, then he made his move. He jumped out of bed making a roaring sound like a lion, causing Jasmine to shriek with laughter as she ran out of his bedroom and into her own, trying to get away from the big 'lion'.

Troy knew one thing for sure, he didn't find it hard to get moving in the morning when Jasmine was around.

**TGTGTGTG**

He really hadn't expected her to settle in so quickly, but she had. She still held onto him tightly as they walked in, and she still wanted him to stay with her, but as soon as Julie brought out Rosie for her to play with she was as happy as anything and ran off to the soft corner to play.

Troy had stayed for a while and talked with Julie about how he and Jasmine were settling in so well at home and how he'd made such a great group of friends at school, he just hoped that Jasmine would soon do the same.

Troy smiled to himself one more time before turning off his truck's engine, grabbing his bag and heading into school to start his day.

He was early, after Jasmine had settled in so well he'd left, so she didn't realise he was still there and get upset again.

As he walked across the almost empty court yard, at the front of the school, he noticed Gabriella was here as well, sat under a tree, talking on her phone, crying.

She hadn't noticed him yet, so quietly made his way over and couldn't help but stop a short way away and listen to her conversation.

"Yes Mum I know that, you were the ones arguing when I got up, well what do you want me to do, sit there and listen, well then I'll just go hungry won't I, oh come on, it's not like you two care, yeah you do that, just swan off to work 'til who knows what hour tonight, and pretend that nothing has happened, it's what you always do, bye." He watched as she finished the call and swiped at the tears that had been falling from her eyes, he was about to approach her when a few more words slipped from her mouth.

"I love you too Mum." And with that the tears started falling all over again, but this time she seemed to give into them, as she pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her forehead on her knees as her body shook with tears.

He wasn't sure what to do, he had only known her a day, but he couldn't just sit round and watch her cry, so he just decided to go for it and offer her a shoulder to cry on.

"Gabriella?" He asked, as he stepped closer to the crying brunette.

"Go away."

"I would, but you're crying and I can't walk away knowing you're crying. Is it okay if I sit down?"

Gabriella lifted her head from her knees and nodded, allowing Troy to come and take a seat on her right.

"D-did you hear my conversation?" Gabriella asked, as she tried to wipe away more tears, but with no avail, they just kept on falling.

Troy nodded silently. "I'm sorry, I wasn't being intentionally nosey, but I saw you sitting here, and then I realised you were on the phone and I was going to leave, but then you were crying and I couldn't leave you after that, your conversation didn't seem too great."

"It wasn't, my Mum and I argue sometimes, it's no big deal, I just wish she'd realise how much other things _do_ mean to me though, I just hate it when..." She trailed off, what was she doing, she only met Troy yesterday and now, here she was about to pour her life story out to him, 'not happening,' she told herself, as she pulled herself out of her day dream and realised Troy was still there.

"I'm sorry, I only met you yesterday, you don't need to be hearing this."

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, just know that if you do wanna talk, I'm here."

"Thanks." Gabriella said, as she wiped her eyes with her cardigan sleeve and put her head back down on her knees.

"Come here." Troy said softly, as he gently wrapped his arms around Gabriella, pulling head from her knees and onto his chest, allowing her to simply cry away all her feelings against him.

They sat like that for a few minutes, Troy simply holding her as she cried, until he began to notice that other students were starting to arrive, and unless Gabriella wanted people asking her questions all day, he knew she needed to clean her self up.

"I think we should maybe start heading inside, the others are starting to arrive and unless you want people asking you questions all day, you should probably go get cleaned up."

Gabriella lifted her head from Troy's chest and looked him in the eye. "Will you come with me?"

"Of course I will, I can't come in the girls toilets with you, but I will wait outside for you, is that okay?"

Gabriella nodded, and moved herself away from Troy allowing him to get up, pulling her with him in the process and then gently placing his hand on the small of her back as he lead her into the school.

**TGTGTGTG**

The rest of the morning had gone well, the gang had noticed Gabriella was quiet but she just told them she'd had an argument with her Mum again, but Troy looked after her and she was okay now. Little did any of them know, that was all about to change.

Gabriella and Troy had their family living class and then a free period before lunch, and it was the family living class that caused the problem.

Their teacher had given them sheets to fill out on what family meant to them, and although he knew not everyone had every family member that was on the sheet, he still wanted them to fill it out to the best of their ability, putting down all the positive things about that family member if they had one.

Troy had finished his sheet, despite the fact it was only him and Jasmine now, most of the family members on the sheet he had experienced and one point or another, and so was able to pull from that to finish his work.

"You've finished Mr Bolton, that's great work, well done."

Troy looked up at Mr Peterson who was peering over his shoulder. "Thanks sir."

Troy watched as Mr Peterson walked behind him and stopped beside Gabriella's desk, she wasn't doing her work, she was sat wit her pen in her hand, staring blankly at the page in front of her. She'd filled out most of the sheet just not the bit Mr Peterson expected them all to be able to fill out; the Mum and Dad part.

"Miss Montez, care to explain why you appear to have given up on your work?"

"I've finished." Gabriella answered, not once looking up at her teacher.

"No you haven't young lady, I asked everyone to at least fill out the Mum and Dad part, those are the parts you've missed, care to explain?"

"There's nothing to explain sir, I haven't got anything nice to say about my parents, okay?"

"No that's not okay, I've met your parents Gabriella, they're lovely people."

"Yeah, that's what you think; you don't live with them do you?"

"Don't give me that cheek young lady. Now please finish off the sheet."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just can't." Gabriella said, as tears started to gather in her eyes.

"There's no such word as can't Miss Montez, now please fill out the sheet."

"NO!" That was it. Gabriella gathered her stuff and walked out of the lesson, tears pouring from her eyes; she didn't look back once.

The class sat in silence, Gabriella was the quiet one, the well behaved one, what had possessed her to walk out of a lesson, no matter how bad things got, Gabriella would never do that.

It was five minutes after Gabriella walked out that the bell rang and class was dismissed. Troy was one of the first out of the classroom, he needed to find Gabriela, he wasn't sure where she'd be, this was only his second day after all, but he just knew he needed to find her.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy has gone to all he places that he knew at East High, but Gabriella wasn't at any of them, so he decided his best bet was to find the rest of the gang and ask them for help.

He found them in the gym, Chad and Zeke being on the basketball team the rest of the gang would join them in free periods to work, while they practised their game, so he decided that would be the best place to find them.

"GUYS!" Troy shouted; as he entered the gym, causing the boys too immediately stop their one on one game. "Have any of you seen Gabriella?"

"We thought she was with you." Chad said, walking over to Troy and the others at the bleachers.

"She was, but she had an argument with Mr Peterson and then walked out, I've looked in the obvious places, but I can't find her, any ideas?"

"Have you tried the library?" Taylor asked. "She's always in there."

"Yeah I looked in there, there was hardly anyone around." Troy answered.

"Did you go right to the back?" Kelsi asked. "There are some bean bags right at the back, by the big windows, where me and her go sometimes if we need to think or just be alone and quiet for a bit."

"I didn't try there, thanks Kelsi, I'm gonna go look, we'll come find you at lunch, if she's okay with that." Troy said, as he began to walk away.

"Whoa Troy wait up, why did she argue with Peterson? What did he say to make her walk out? That's not like Gabi at all." Chad said, worried about his friend.

"I'm not really sure to be honest, that's why I want to find her, she was crying again. All I know is that she wouldn't finish filling out the sheet he'd given us, we had to fill in all the positive things about family members, she did it all apart from the Mum and Dad part, he'd told us that was the bit we all_ had_ to fill in. They had an argument about why she couldn't fill it in, Gabriella just said she couldn't, when Peterson said there was no such word as can't and told her to fill in the sheet she said no, got up, gathered her stuff and left, no one dared to say anything after that, he let us go as soon as the bell went."

"That doesn't sound good, she had an argument with her Mum as well this morning, she shouldn't be by herself, should we all split up and look for her." Taylor asked.

"I think we should let Troy go." Sharpay answered. "Kelsi's right she's probably in the back of the library, plus Gabi said Troy was looking after her this morning, surely that shows she feels comfortable with him, he was the one there when she walked out, he should be the one to find her."

"She's right Troy, just go find Gabi and we'll see you at lunch." Chad said, as Troy quickly turned on his heel and left the gym heading in the direction of the library.

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella was indeed sat, curled up on one of the big, black, leather bean bags at the back of the library, looking out of the big windows that overlooked the school grounds. She was still crying, every time she stopped thoughts started running through her head again and the tears just simply started to fall. She knew she shouldn't have argued with or walked out on Mr Peterson, but she had, and now she wasn't quite sure how to put it right.

"Gabriella?" Troy's voice pulled her from her daydream and she turned round from staring out of the windows to look at him.

"Hey." She greeted him, trying to wipe away the tears that were falling from her eyes, but it was no use, they just kept falling.

"Oh Gabriella, come here." Troy said with open arms, as he sat down next to her on the bean bag and pulled her into his arms.

Gabriella simply cried and let all of her pent up feelings come out. She'd had enough; everything had just simply become too much for her and although she knew Troy would want to talk to her sooner or later, right now she was more than happy to be cuddled up in his arms, crying.

"I should probably go back and apologies to Peterson, shouldn't I?" Gabriella asked, a good five minutes later when her tears had slowed down.

"Yeah you probably should, but not right now, I'm kinda comfy and I think you should probably talk things through with someone else before you go back in there and talk with him, so wanna talk?"

Gabriella took a deep breath. "You want the simple story or the complicated one?"

"Which ever you feel more comfortable talking about."

Gabriella laughed slightly. "Neither really, but the simple one is shorter so I guess it's that." She replied, as a few more tears slipped from her eyes.

"Hey now, come on, no more tears, your okay, I've got you and I wanna help you, just please stop crying Brie, please."

"Brie?" She asked, as she wiped at some of her falling tears.

"Sorry it just kinda slipped out, I'll call you Gabriella if you prefer, but Brie suits you, it's a pretty nickname, just like you."

"Thanks I like it, and you ain't half bad yourself." They both blushed as the realisation that they were flirting set in. "I should probably tell you what's going on now, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, just take your time, remember I'm here, just go slow."

Gabriella nodded and snuggled closer to Troy as she prepared to talk to him, she wouldn't admit it, but she kinda felt safe being in Troy's arms, it was the safest she'd felt in a long time.

"Things are kinda hard at home right now. Mum and Dad have been arguing a lot. That's what me and Mum were arguing about this morning, they had an argument this morning before school, I asked them to stop but they just told me to leave, I did but I didn't get the chance to bring any lunch or money with me so I can't have any lunch, I skipped breakfast as well, I hate it when they argue it makes me feel sick. She always phones after they argue to apologies, but she always does it just as she's about to go to work, so she's always in a hurry. But do you know what hurts the most? The fact that neither of them tell me they love me anymore. I haven't done anything, but I always seem to get the brunt of everything anyway."

"Brie I'm sorry I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything Troy, you listened and that's what means the most to me right now. Being in your arms is the safest I've felt in a while as well, things just aren't going well right now."

"I can tell that, do you feel safe at home?"

"Yes and no, sometimes their arguing gets out of control, but when that happens I just leave and go for a swim at the leisure centre, or visit Chad and Taylor, he only lives round the corner and she's usually there most of the time as well."

"You like swimming?"

"Yeah, it's s great way to just escape."

"I'm a life guard at the leisure centre, you should come say hello next time we're both there, I'll keep an eye out for you as well."

"You working tonight?"

"No I've got tonight off, I'm in tomorrow and Thursday though, then I'm off for the weekend, things to do. You wanna know a secret?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I live by myself, I had a big bust up with my parents and they chucked me out, I've got an apartment that's just over half an hour away from here, it's a lovely apartment block, I'll have to have you round some time, I can be another place for you to escape to."

"Thanks Troy, you've been great."

"Yeah well, I had to ask the others where you'd be I couldn't find you to begin with, but then Kelsi suggested here, even though I'd already been in here, she said this is a place you and here come and sit when you wanna escape."

"Yeah it's good place to come and think. Will you come with me while I speak to Peterson, I don't want him to hate me, he's great teacher and I think he deserves an explanation."

"Sounds like a plan to me, then we'll go meet the other for lunch, they're worried about you, and don't worry, I'm paying." Troy said, as he got up and pulled Gabriella with him.

"Thanks Troy, I don't know what I'd of done without you today."

"It's okay; it couldn't just leave you when I knew you were crying, I'm not that type of person." Troy replied, as he gently laced his arm around Gabriella's shoulders and led her to Mr Peterson's classroom.

Troy had no idea that his second day at East High would be this eventful, but he's glad he was there to help Gabriella. She was clearly crying out for help and it seemed that he was the person to hear those cries.

**TGTGTGTG**

Jasmine laughed as Troy picked her up and spun her round and round, her giggles filling the apartment as he did.

"Daddy stop, Jasmine and Rosie dizzy now."

Troy slowly brought their spinning to a stop and plopped down on the couch with Jasmine still in his arms.

"Is that better? Or are you and Rosie still dizzy?"

"No, all better now Daddy, thank you."

"That's okay then, have you had a nice time with Daddy and Rosie tonight then?" Troy asked, as he situated Jasmine on his lap more comfortably as their hectic night started to take its toll on her.

After picking Jasmine up from nursery, Troy had taken her to the park to feed the ducks before allowing her to play on the play area and then taking her home to watch telly while he cooked and did his one piece of homework that was due in the next day. After dinner Troy had helped Jasmine put together two jigsaws and had helped her get dressed up in her princess costume. All in all Troy had given his daughter a pretty good night.

Jasmine nodded her head sleepily at Troy's question. "We do it again tomorrow?"

"No not tomorrow sweetie Daddy's gotta work, but I'm off Friday, Saturday and Sunday so we can have lots of fun, what do you think?"

"Zoo?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah I think we can go to the zoo, but I think you need to go to bed now though, Daddy has worn you out."

"Yeah Jazzy tired." Troy laughed, as he got up with Jasmine in his arms and took her though to her bedroom to get her sorted to bed and into bed.

Tucking Jasmine in only took fifteen minutes because Troy really had worn her out and she wasn't awake enough to play with him as he was getting her ready.

It was twenty minutes after he'd tucked Jasmine in that Troy stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed himself. He'd tucked in Jasmine and had given the apartment a quick tidy up while putting the dishwasher on, before making sure everything was locked and turned off before heading to bed.

He took out his phone and sent Gabriella a quick text.

_Hey, how r u? I hope things haven't been too bad for you tonight, I've been thinking about you. T _

After speaking to Mr Peterson, who had completely understood why he'd upset Gabriella so much and had said he'd keep it in mind for the future, Troy had taken Gabriella to the canteen and brought her some lunch, before they enjoyed a happy lunch with their friends. The group and Troy had all swapped mobile numbers, and Troy had secretly told Gabriella afterwards that she could contact him anytime when she needed an escape from her parents.

Troy switched off the light and turned on his alarm, as he received a reply from Gabriella.

_I'm okay thanks, things have been just as bad as normal but I was in my room watching TV so I shut them out tonight. How was ur night? G _

_It was good thanks, just watched TV and did homework. Try get some sleep Brie, I'll see you tomorrow. Night Tx_

Troy had settled himself in bed as he received one last text.

_I'll try, promise. Night Gx_

Troy smiled, as he put his phone on chare on his bed side table and rolled over in his double bed to get some sleep, before Jasmine was up early, jumping on him, telling him it was time to get and start the new day.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, chapter two, hope you liked it!**

**Happy Thanks Giving to those of you who celebrate, I'm English so I don't and I know by the time you read this thanks giving will probably by over, but anyway...**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU! **


	3. A Place To Escape To

**Here it is guys, the next chapter, enjoy!**

**Here's another thing, I'm hardly getting any reviews, yet I know people are reading it, so please review, it doesn't cost anything and it's simple enough to do, so please review!**

A Place To Escape To 

Friday; a day everyone loves, mainly because tomorrow they haven't got to get up early and they can do whatever they want, Troy was no different. He was looking forward to not getting up too early, even though he knew he'd still be woken up early, and being able to spend the whole weekend with Jasmine, something she hadn't let him forget, especially his promise to take her to the zoo.

Because of their promised outing at the weekend, Jasmine had happily run into nursery and had decided to paint Troy a picture of all the animals they'd see at the zoo.

It was because of his daughter's happy mood that Troy's smile hadn't left his face since he'd dropped Jasmine off. His first week at East High had been amazing, he hadn't expected to fit in straight away, but he had and he couldn't be more thankful to Gabriella and the others for accepting him like they had.

Troy's smile had stayed on his even through his first and second period lessons, but they had quickly left when Chad's comment about spending the weekend with Taylor's family, had caused Gabriella to get up and leave their table in the canteen at break time.

Chad had immediately gone after her and apologised, and although she accepted his apology and hug, she still hadn't returned to the table and had told Troy she'd see him in their family living class at the end of break.

Chad had returned to the table feeling bad about upsetting Gabriella and with much persuasion had managed to get Troy to go find her and make sure she was okay, he really didn't want her to be alone right now, even if that's what she wanted.

So, Troy was now entering the library, making his way to the bean bags, where he knew Gabriella would be.

Sure enough, as Troy turned the corner to the bean bags he saw Gabriella curled up on the same bean bag as before, staring out of the window, tears slowly trickling down her face.

"Brie?" Troy tried to get her attention, but she just kept staring out of the window.

"Brie? Is it okay if I sit down?" Troy knew he was being a bit stupid asking if he could sit down, but Gabriella hadn't even turned to look at him today, and he was worried that what Chad had said had affected her more than she had let on.

When Gabriella didn't answer him again, he moved forward and sat down on the floor in front of her, hoping to grab her attention this way.

It worked; she looked him in the eye and saw the worry and concern that was coming from his blue orbs.

As Troy looked back into her brown eyes, he saw hurt and upset coming from them and knew that Chad's comment about families had really gotten to her.

Troy smiled gently at her, as he held open his arms, in the hope she'd accept his offered gesture of comfort.

She did, she moved forward leaning her head against his left shoulder and hesitantly wrapping her arms around his body. She pulled back quickly as she started to feel the tears stinging her eyes again, he didn't need her to cry on him again, he'd offered her that comfort yesterday. Surely he'd just think she was a weak school girl who needed to grow up and accept that adults argue.

She pulled right the way back and curled back into her bean bag, facing away from Troy and staring out of the window, as the unwanted tears started to cloud her vision.

Troy sighed, she was starting to pull away, something he knew wouldn't be good, he just wanted to help her, he didn't like seeing her cry and right now, he'd do pretty much anything to cheer her up.

"Gabriella please turn round." He pleaded, as he sat down on the bean bag next to hers, so that he was now looking at her back. "I just wanna help you, I hate seeing you cry. Chad's really beating himself up about what he said, he just wasn't thinking. He was the one who made me come find you, we all knew you wanted to be alone, but he was really worried, Brie please look at me."

Slowly Gabriella turned round and fell into Troy's awaiting arms, as the tears began to pour from her eyes. He held her close, something he'd done a lot in the last week, but something that neither of them minded, they both rather enjoyed the comfort the hug offered them.

"I'm sorry." Gabriella said a few minutes later, pulling back slightly to wipe away the tears. "It seems all I've done since I met you is cry on you, can't be a good impression to make."

Troy laughed slightly. "Its fine, I'm just glad I could be here to help, especially after only knowing you a week and because you have all your other friends to look after you, I feel privileged."

Now it was Gabriella's turn to laugh. "I'm not sure what to say to that, other than the others don't really know everything about me, they know my parents argue, a lot, but they don't know how much it affects me, it's only really started coming out since you came to East High, you bring out strange feelings in me Troy, but I'm kinda glad you do, I'm not sure how long I'd be able to last without your hugs right now, Mum and Dad's arguing is getting a lot worse."

"Is that why Chad's comment about Taylor's family upset you so much, because your family life isn't exactly great right now?" Troy questioned, pulling Gabriella back against him, wanting to offer her as much comfort as he could, feeling she'd need it.

"Yeah, they're always worse at the weekends. We're together more so there's more for them to argue about, I hate it. I know hate is a strong word, but I really do hate it, it's just horrible to see your parents marriage fall apart around you, I find it really hard to handle, especially when they just start arguing in front of me, just forgetting that I am actually there."

"What do you do? When they argue?"

"Sometimes, if I can't get away, like at dinner or in public I have to stay there and listen. But, if I can get away I go to my room, watch the telly, put on music, do homework, anything to try and block it out. Sometimes, when I know the argument is going to be a long one, I leave and go swimming, sometimes I go to Chad's, but most of the time I go swimming, it's just so peaceful, so different to being at home."

"Gabriella, I wish I could make this go away, but I can't, I can offer you an escape though. Anytime it all gets too much for you, anytime, after school, middle of the night, whenever, call me and I'll come get you to take you away from it. If I don't answer then I'll be at work, so come swimming and ask for me, I'll take my break and we can go somewhere quiet so you can think, or you can come swimming and we'll talk, I don't mind, the choice is completely yours, just please take me up on the offer Gabriella."

"I will, thanks Troy, it means so much that you'd do all that for me, thank you." Gabriella said sincerely, as she looked Troy straight in the eye.

"It's not a problem, I promise, just please don't keep things bottled up, talk to me, or one of the others, just lease talk to _someone_."

Gabriella nodded silently, as the bell signalling the end of break rang and the pair got up and headed to their family living class, both knowing they'd found a great friend.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Okay Jazzy, dinner time, what do you want?" Troy asked, as he put down the dolly he was playing with and stood up to make his way to the kitchen.

Jasmine shrugged. "Not hungwy."

"You must be hungry sweetie, come on what do you want." Troy said, as he made his way back over to where Jasmine was playing on the living room floor and knelt down in front of her. "Tell you what, we'll have take out, tell Daddy what you want and he'll order it, then we'll sit on the living room floor and have a picnic, what do you say?"

"Rosie come to picnic?" Jasmine asked, as she cuddled Rosie close to her chest.

"Yes Rosie can come to picnic, but you need to tell Daddy what you want for dinner so we can have a picnic. So, what do you want?"

Jasmine looked thoughtful for a second before answering."Pizza pwease."

"Pizza it is, you can play again now while I phone them up, okay?"

"Okay Daddy." Troy ruffled Jasmine's hair, as he stood up and made his way back to the kitchen where he phone was lying on the counter.

He placed their order and was told it'd be about forty five minutes because they were busy, but any longer than that, then they would take money off of the bill.

As Troy hung up and put his phone back down on the counter to go back and play with Jasmine, it started ringing, he thought it'd be the delivery company wanting to confirm his address, so he completely ignored the caller id, but when he answered he realised it was someone way more important.

"_T-troy, is that you?"_

"Gabriella? Yes it's me, are you okay? What's wrong?"

"_My Mum and Dad, they were arguing really bad, they started throwing things Troy, I was so scared. I told them to stop, they just got angrier with each other, blaming the other for upsetting me, I couldn't take it so I just went to my room, packed a bag and left, they really scared me Troy."_

"Gabriella it's gonna be okay, where are you now? What are your parents gonna do when they find out you've gone?"

"_They don't care, they're away on work things from tomorrow anyway, they probably think I'm at Chad's or something."_

"Okay, but where are you now? I'll come and get you, you can stay at mine, just tell me where you are Brie, please?"

"_I'm in the park, opposite the school, I didn't know where else to go, Chad isn't at home, he's with Taylor and her family."_

"Okay, just stay where you are and I'll be there in twenty minutes, keep your phone in your pocket in case you need it again, it's gonna be okay Gabriella, I promise."

"_Thank you Troy."_

"Anytime, I'll see you in twenty." As he hung up Troy knew that tonight would be when Gabriella and Jasmine met, he just hoped Gabriella got on as well with Jasmine, as she did with him.

**TGTGTGTG**

After running next door and asking Jenni to look after Jasmine for a while, he grabbed his car keys, left Jenni some money for the pizza and then headed out of the door, knowing Gabriella was waiting on him.

Fifteen minutes he pulled his truck into the park's car park and immediately started looking for Gabriella. He ran to the top of a hill, which over looked the entire park, and from there he spotted Gabriella.

She was sat under a tree, her knees pulled to her chest, her bag next to her, as she sat sating off into space.

Troy quickly made his way down the hill, as he headed towards Gabriella. He knew she was scared, so he approached her cautiously, not wanting to scare her more than she already was.

"Gabriella." Troy called her name, as he got closer, pulling her from her daydream back into real life.

"Troy, you came." Gabriella's voice was soft and quiet, and Troy had to strain to her what she was saying.

"Of course I came, I told you I would, so I did, you okay?" Troy asked, as he knelt down in front of her.

"Yeah, I think so, thank you for coming."

"It's okay, how about we head back to mine? I've ordered in pizza, and there's someone there who I want you to meet." Troy said, as he lifted Gabriella's bag onto his shoulder and then pulled Gabriella up.

"I thought you lived by yourself?"

"I lied, I know I shouldn't have, but I did, just come home with me, let me explain and then you can judge me all you want."

"I'd never judge you Troy, you've done too much for me, for me to want to do that." Troy smiled, as he wrapped an arm round Gabriella's shoulders and led her back to his truck, knowing things could be about to get interesting.

**TGTGTGTG**

They had arrived back to a seemingly empty flat, but when they discovered the pizza boxes on the kitchen counter, they knew there were indeed people here.

Troy had told Gabriella to make herself comfortable in the lounge and that he wouldn't be a minute. She sat on one of the couches, as Jenni came out from another room in the flat, shot her a quick smile, before grabbing her stuff and leaving, Gabriella was now truly confused.

She sat there for a couple of minutes, taking in her surroundings. It was doing this she noticed the children's toys on the floor and packed away neatly in boxes against the wall opposite her, she'd been wracking her mind trying to figure out who Troy lived with and now, all her theories had gone completely out of the window.

It was a few minutes after Jenni left, that Troy appeared from the same part of the flat that Jenni had, the only difference was that Troy wasn't alone.

"Brie, this is who I'd like you to meet, this is my daughter Jasmine."

The apartment was silent for a few minutes while Gabriella took in what Troy had just told her. She watched, as he walked over to where Jasmine had left her toys and knelt down with Jasmine still in his arms as she started to play again. Once she was settled Troy made his way over to where Gabriella was sat and took a seat next to her.

"Troy I really had no idea, I really don't know what to say. A lot of things raced through my mind, but never that you were a Dad."

"It's okay, not many people guess that, it's kinda why I never say anything, that and people look at me differently afterwards."

"I don't wanna impose but, where's her Mum?" 

"It's okay, I want you to know. Jessica died giving birth to Jasmine a little over two years ago now. It was a big shock to know I was gonna be a Dad, let alone a single one. My parents and Jessica's they don't wanna have anything to do with us now, Jasmine reminds them to much of their daughter, or in the case of my parents, I'm too much of a disgrace for them to be around. We moved here from West Albuquerque to start a fresh, to get away from everything that happened there, and to hopefully find people who'd except me as a single Dad at seventeen, I understand if you wanna judge me now." 

"Troy I told you before I wouldn't judge you and I'm not going to, ,besides, you seem like a great Dad, Jasmine seems happy enough."

"Yeah I hope so, Jessica's parents moved away from Albuquerque and mine disowned me, so I was kinda by myself from day one, I had no one to turn to, I just had to do things and hope I was doing it right. Like you say, Jazzy seems happy enough. You wanna meet her?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Jazzy sweetie, can you come here a sec please, then we can have our pizza picnic, I Promise."

"Okay Daddy." Jasmine collected Rosie in her arms, before getting up and making her way over to Troy and Gabriella.

Troy had told her there was someone he wanted her to meet and she was okay with that, but it didn't stop her from being a little weary on her approach to this new person.

"Jasmine come on honey, come sit on Daddy's lap and meet his new friend." Troy tried to encourage his daughter, as he held out his arms, ready for her to walk into and be lifted onto his lap.

Jasmine walked the last few steps a little quicker and soon made it to Troy's arms, where she was scooped up and sat comfortably on his lap.

"Jasmine this is my new friend Gabriella, Gabriella this is my two year old daughter Jasmine."

The sat and looked at each other cautiously, neither knowing what to say to this new person in front of them, but Gabriella decided, that being the adult in the situation, she should speak first.

"Hey Jasmine, It's nice to meet you, you're a little cutie, aren't you?"

Jasmine smiled shyly at Gabriella. "Thank you Gabwiella."

Troy smiled at the interaction between his daughter and new friend, he was pleased how well they seemed to be getting on already, but he was pulled from his daydream when Jasmine started poking him in the stomach."

"Jazzy don't do that, it hurts, what's the matter?" Troy asked, as he caught his daughter's poking finger and kept it trapped in his hand.

"Daddy." Jasmine said, as she moved herself so that she was leant right in against Troy. "She's pwetty."

Troy smiled down at his daughter, as he ran a hand through her wispy hair. "I think you're right there Jazzy, she is very pretty."

Troy knew Gabriella had heard everything that had been said between him and his daughter, but he didn't mind, not one little bit.

"Jazzy, before we have our picnic Daddy needs to ask you a question, Gabriella is going to be staying here for the weekend, is that okay with you?"

Jasmine looked thoughtful for a minute, before turning back to Gabriella. "We go to zoo, Gabwi come?"

Troy smiled, as he hugged his daughter close."Yeah sweetie, Gabi can definitely come."

**TGTGTGTG**

"She is finally asleep." Troy later in the evening, as he plopped down on the couch next to Gabriella.

"I think we may have worn her out." Gabriella said, as she finished running a brush through her hair.

"Ah well, that doesn't matter, 'cause that way I can talk to you without having to play with her at the same time."

"Talk to me about what?" Gabriella knew in her heart Troy would want to have this conversation, she'd just been having so much fun with Jasmine that she hoped he'd forgotten the real reason why she was here.

"You know what Gabriella, what were your parents arguing over that made them want to throw things?"

Gabriella looked down at her feet and started to play with the draw strings on her hoodie, which she'd changed into, along with her PJ's, when Troy had been putting Jasmine to bed.

"Brie please, I just wanna know what was going on that made you want to leave home without your parents knowing and phone me."

"I can't take it anymore, they've gone too far this time and I'm scared. I'm really scared Troy." Gabriella broke, as the words came from her mouth and tears started to fall from her eyes. Tears she'd been doing pretty well at holding in, 'til now.

"Come here." Troy said, as he moved along the couch and pulled Gabriella into his arms. Not caring that she had a death grip on him, he rocked her back and forth to calm her, and although the tears didn't stop, he breathing did come back to normal.

"I-I don't know what they were arguing over, I d-didn't stay round long enough t-to find out. When they started throwing things I left the kitchen, ran to my room, got some stuff together and then left through the front door, they didn't even here me do that. They were that engrossed in arguing with each other, they didn't even notice their own daughter leaving the house with an overnight bag, it just upsets me so much. The worse bit is, they're arguing more now, than they ever have before."

Troy tightened his grip on Gabriella and cuddled her closer. "Thank you for telling me, I really wish there was something I could do, but unfortunately there isn't, I'm sorry. But I can offer you a weekend away from it all, what do you say?"

"Are you sure? I mean Jasmine won't mind will she? It's always been the two of you and then suddenly I'm here, won't she mind?"

"Brie, she loves you, she wants you to come to the zoo with us tomorrow, she's had great fun playing with you tonight, and even if she didn't like it, which she does, she would have to deal with it because I'm in charge round here, and I say she's gonna have to get used to you being here because I really want to get to know you a lot better, especially because you've also excepted Jazzy."

Gabriella lifted her head from Troy's shoulder and gave him a teary smile, as she looked him straight in the eye. "Thank you, thank you so, so much, no one has ever treated me this way before."

"They should've, you're a great person, people must be mad not to want to look after you and get to know you better."

Gabriella snuggled back against Troy, as she let a small yawn escape from her mouth.

"I think we better get you to bed, or to sleep, on the couch because you're too polite to sleep in my bed for the night, while I sleep here, but noooo, couldn't do that, could you?"

"Troy I told you earlier, you've been polite enough to let me stay here for the weekend, the least I can do is let you sleep in your own bed, I'm fine."

"Okay, okay, but you have to let me tuck you in."

Gabriella laughed, as Troy got up from the couch and allowed her to lay down, before grabbing the spare blanket he'd found and gently laying it over the top if her.

"I'm the last room on the right, so if you need anything, and I mean anything, that's where I'll be, okay?"

"Okay, thanks Troy, night."

"Night Brie." Troy said, as he watched Gabriella situate herself comfortably on the couch, before he turned off the light and headed down the corridor to his own room.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy didn't usually wake up at two thirty in the morning, but when your daughter is jumping on you, you have no choice at all.

"Jazzy, what are you doing? It's the middle of the night."

"Gabwi awake, come see."

Jasmine pulled on Troy's hadn't, giving him no choice but to follow. Once in the living room area of the flat, they found Gabriella awake, sitting there, staring off into space. Troy walked over to her, took her by the hand and led her back to his bedroom, where Jasmine had run back to when they'd reached Gabriella.

"Don't say anything, just lay down and go back to sleep. You little missy, budge over."

Jasmine moved over to the far side of the bed, allowing Troy to slide into the middle, pulling Gabriella with him. Troy wrapped an arm around each girl, before softly kissing them on their foreheads and allowing them both to head off back to dream land, somewhere he wasn't far behind getting to himself.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys chapter three, hope you liked it.**

**Hopefully it'll be set out okay, I'm using my new laptop and I'm not used to the up to date software yet.**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	4. A Weekend of Fun

**Here's the next chapter for you guys, I really hope you like it!**

A Weekend of Fun

Waking up, he wasn't entirely sure where he was or what was beside him, but when he felt movement to his right, he realised it wasn't what was beside him, it was who.

Looking over to his left, Troy found Jasmine no longer in bed, but on the floor playing with her dollies. She looked up and gave her father one of her famous Bolton grins, before turning back to narrating her dolly's activities.

Troy shifted over slightly in his bed so that he was able to get a better view of the brunette next to him. She had her back to him, but seemed to whimper slightly when he moved. At first Troy thought she was just reacting to his body no longer being up against her, but when, a couple of minutes later, she whimpered again, he realised she was dreaming.

He was hoping she'd wake up and bring herself out of the dream, but when her whimpers became louder and she started becoming restless, Troy realised he needed to wake her up.

"Jazzy, can you do Daddy a favour and go and play in your room for a couple of minutes, I'll come and get you when Gabriella's awake, okay?"

Jasmine nodded silently as her father, as she collected her dolls and quietly made her way out of the room.

He'd woken Jasmine up from plenty of dreams and night terrors, but he didn't want her to be in the room if Gabriella got upset, it wouldn't be fair on any of them. So now, with Jasmine out of the room, Troy turned his attention back to a now, very restless, Gabriella.

She had her back to him and in fear of making her jump even more than she probably would already; he got out of bed and crouched down by the side of the bed, so that he was face to face with her.

"Gabriella, Gabriella you need to wake up sweetie, your having a dream, you need to wake up."

She's heard him and he knew it, she'd immediately stopped moving when he started speaking and although she'd heard him, she still hadn't woken from the dream.

Gently he placed a hand on her shoulder and started to shake her, in a hope the movement would break up her dream, it did.

She shot up in bed, fear and worry written all over her face. She seemed to be unsure of her surroundings to begin with, until she turned to her right and saw Troy.

"Hey, you're okay, you were just having a dream, you were getting really restless so I had to wake you, sorry."

"It's okay, it wasn't a good dream anyway, where's Jasmine?"

"I made her go in her room for a bit, I wasn't sure how you'd react when I woke you, so to save people getting embarrassed it sent her in there, she's fine, she's playing with her dollies. Wanna tell me what your dream was about?"

"The obvious, Mum and Dad were arguing, they were throwing things again, but this time they were throwing things at me, well Dad was anyway, Mum was trying to stop him, it was really, really scary."

"Yeah well it was just a dream, it's over now, you don't need to worry about it." Troy said, as he walked back round the bed and sat down on his side.

"I didn't mean to wake you last night you know? I didn't even know Jasmine had seen me until you both appeared in the doorway, she's really caring you know?"

"Yeah, she's always been like that, it's just the way she is I guess. Why didn't you come and wake me when you woke up? I told you where I was for that exact reason, so you could come and talk to me, I didn't want you sitting in the dark on your own, dwelling on things. You should've woken me."

Gabriella shrugged. "I know, but I wasn't really sure why I was awake in the first place, I kinda just wanted to be held, but I felt kinda stupid waking you up to ask you for a hug, you've given me enough of them already."

"Yeah so? I have a two year old daughter, I all ever do is give out and receive hugs, it's one of the best things about being a Dad. So, you still wanna be held?"

Gabriella nodded shyly, as Troy moved so he was back in bed and leaning against the headboard.

"Come here then." Troy said, as he patted the bed beside him and held his arms open for Gabriella to snuggle into. She did just that, snuggling into his side as far as she could, resting her head on his shoulder, allowing her face to hide in the crook of his neck.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"No I guess not."

"In that case, next time, just ask, okay?"

"Mhmmm." Was her mumbled reply.

"Don't go back to sleep on me, either." He teased.

"Mhmmm." Was the only reply he got to that as well.

Troy nuzzled his face in Gabriella's hair and tightened his grip around her, he wasn't about to admit this to anyone, after all he'd only known her a week, but Troy was beginning to become very fond of the brunette beauty currently finding comfort in his arms.

They stayed like that for a good few minutes and Troy was pretty sure that Gabriella had fallen back to sleep on him, until a scream was heard from Jasmine's room, making them both shoot up in his bed and head in the direction of the clearly distressed girl.

Troy reached Jasmine first, but Gabriella wasn't far behind, they found her sat on the floor, backed up against her bed, as she tried to hide from something on the other side of the room.

"Jazzy sweetheart, what's the matter?" Troy asked, as he picked her up from the floor and cradled her against his body, slowly swaying as he stood there.

"M-monster." Jasmine stated, as she pointed across the room to where her dollies were still lying on the floor, where she'd been playing with them minutes ago.

Troy and Gabriella looked over to where Jasmine was pointing and soon found her 'monster'.

"Jazzy sweetheart, it's just a spider, it won't hurt you." Troy said, as he adjusted Jasmine's position on his hip, so that he could rub her back.

"Scawy." Jasmine simply stated, as she continued to hide in the crook of Troy's neck.

Looking at the spider, Gabriella could see why Jasmine was so scared of it. It wasn't a big spider, by any means, but it wasn't exactly a little one either, it was the type of spider Gabriella didn't normal rescue, she left it to someone else, that someone else right now, seemed to be Troy.

"Gabriella."

"Huh?"

"I was saying I think we need to free this 'monster', but by the look on your face you aren't going anywhere near it."

Gabriella laughed. "I'd rather not, I don't mind spiders, but I'm definitely picking that one up. I'll hold Jasmine while you do though."

Troy seemed to like that idea because he turned his attention back to Jasmine to tell her what was happening.

"Jazzy, Daddy needs to rescue the spider, so can Gabi hold you while I do?"

Jasmine simply lifted her head from its hiding place and held her arms out for Gabriella to take her.

Gabriella situated Jasmine on her right hip, before turning her head to look the little girl in the eye. "Do you wanna stay here and watch Daddy rescue the spider, or shall we go start on breakfast?"

"Watch Daddy."

"Okay, how about we sit on your bed so we don't get in your Daddy's way?"

"I want Rosie." Gabriella looked at Troy for help on this one, she'd heard them both mention Rosie, but wasn't really sure who she was, luckily for her, Troy already had that one sorted.

"I don't think Gabriella's met Rosie yet, why don't you two sit on your bed and then you can introduce them while I rescue the spider, is that okay?"

Jasmine nodded, as she took Rosie from Troy's hand and then cuddled into Gabriella's embrace, already liking this new person her father had brought into her life.

**TGTGTGTG**

Later that day found Jasmine running across a big lawn area of the zoo to get to the play ground area. They'd arrived at the zoo two hours after their spider incident, and now that they'd seen all the animals, and they'd eaten their lunch, Troy had allowed Jasmine to go on the play area.

Troy and Gabriella watched as Jasmine reached her destination and made her way over to the swings, only to turn on her heel and start running back towards them.

"Daddy swings please, come on!" Jasmine took hold of Troy's hand and started pulling on it until he followed.

"Alright, alright Jazzy I'm coming, just hold on a minute and stop pulling my arm, I do need that you know."

Gabriella laughed at the interaction between father and daughter, as they finally made it to the swing and Troy lifted Jasmine into one of the special children's swings.

"Higher Daddy, higher!" Jasmine exclaimed, as Troy began pushing her swing.

"Alright little Missy, give me a chance, I only just started pushing, you don't just go high straight away you know, it's not magic." Troy replied, tickling Jasmine the next time the swing came towards him.

Gabriella laughed again at the interaction between Troy and Jasmine, as she sat down on the adult swing next to Jasmine's.

"Gabwi wanna swing too?" Jasmine asked, as Troy's pushed caused her swing to gain the wanted height.

"No I don't think so, not today anyway, Gabi's just happy to sit down for now, we don't all have as much energy as you."

"You aren't tired are you?" Troy asked, as he stopped pushing Jasmine for a minute so she wouldn't go any higher than she already was, which if you asked him was way to high anyway.

"Yeah sorry, I just haven't got a lot of energy at the minute." Gabriella answered, as she used her feet to lightly push her swing back and forth, her feet not once leaving the ground.

"That's probably not a good thing you know? You slept late enough as it was this morning, it would've be later if you hadn't of had that dream, are you always this tired?" Troy's concern for Gabriella was really starting to show.

"Don't worry Troy, there's nothing really wrong with me, I just don't get much sleep at home, Mum and Dad often argue way into the early hours of the morning, I drift off eventually, but it's not the easiest thing to sleep through, especially when more often than not I get brought into it."

Troy sighed, as he brought Jasmine's swing to a stop and lifted her out into his arms. "Jazzy, why don't you go and play on that slide over there while Daddy talks to Gabi for a minute?"

"Okay Daddy." Troy put Jasmine down and watched her run over to the slide and go down it once, before deciding she was okay and turning his attention to the new lady in his life.

Troy walked round to the front of the swings and crouched down in front of Gabriella's causing her to stop swinging, as he took her hands into his.

"Brie, why haven't you ever told anyone else about this? It seems it's been going on for a while now, you can't keep living this way."

Gabriella looked down at their hands which Troy was holding in her lap, she knew he was right but she didn't like to seem weak or that she couldn't cope, she found the best way to cope was to bury herself in her school work and keep out of the house when both her Mum and Dad were home.

She hadn't even realised she'd started crying until Troy's hands came up to cup her face and swipe away the falling tears.

"I'm sorry." Her voice cracked as spoke, but she managed to at least stop more tears from falling.

"Hey now, what have you got to be sorry for? The only thing you really have to be sorry for is not talking to somebody sooner, there people out there who get paid to listen you know?"

"Yeah I know," Gabriella replied, as Troy re-laced their fingers and placed them back in her lap. "It just sounds so stupid sometimes, I'm sleep deprived because my parents argue at all hours, sounds pretty lame if you ask me."

"Well it's not, just please don't keep anything else bottled up inside, the others will surely listen to you and I'm definitely here for you, okay?"

Gabriella nodded and allowed Troy to pull her up into a standing position so they could share a quick hug, before going over to play with Jasmine, and then visiting the animals one more time.

**TGTGTGTG**

"I'm telling you I get just as wet as she does when I give her a bath; I might as well have one with her and have done with it."

"I guess you'd save on water." Gabriella replied, as she tried her best not to laugh at Troy.

"Laugh at me Montez and I'm telling you when it's bath time tomorrow, you're in for a soaking."

"Okay, okay I'm sorry, just get out of those wet clothes will you."

"Yes Miss." Troy said saluting, making Gabriella bite her lip to stop herself from laughing, as she made her way back to the living room so Troy could take her place in his room and get changed.

"How come your still awake? I'm shattered." Gabriella asked Troy, as he plopped down on the couch next to her.

"I'm still awake for two reasons, the first being I'm her Dad, I'm used to running round after her, and the second being I'm not sleep deprived unlike someone I could mention."

Gabriella shrugged, as she snuggled further under the blanket Troy had given her to sleep under last night.

"Brie, if you're really that tired, then go and get in my bed, it's much more comfy than my couch."

Gabriella sighed. "I'm just so tired."

"I know you are sweetie which is why you need to sleep somewhere comfy, come on, I'll take you, you might fall asleep en route." Troy said, as he got up off the couch and gently helped Gabriella to get up before leading her through to his bedroom.

Ten minutes after putting Gabriella to bed and quickly tidying round the flat, Troy silently slid in next to her and was surprised when she rolled towards him.

"I thought you were asleep." Troy said, as he got himself comfortable under the covers.

"I was, but then I felt you come to bed and I was wondering, if maybe, you could hold me like you did this morning? Only for a little bit, just 'til I fall asleep."

"Come here." Troy said, as he held his arms open for Gabriella to situate herself in. "Brie, I hold you in my arms all night if it means you get a good night's sleep."

"Thank you." Gabriella murmured from her resting place on Troy's chest."

"Anytime sweetie, anytime." Troy replied, as he hands started running through Gabriella's hair, slowly lulling her off to sleep.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Bolton, it's your weekend off, what on earth are you doing here?"

"I got forced into coming, if I had my way I'd be lazing around the flat in my sweats around about now."

Tim laughed. "You got over powered by girls didn't you?"

Troy smiled sheepishly at Tim, his boss and all round great guy.

Tim had taken Troy under his wing from day one and really admired him for everything he'd already been through in life.

"If you were talked into this by women, does it mean I finally get to meet that daughter of yours?"

"Yep, she's still getting changed." Troy answered, as he put his towel down on the bench at the side of the pool.

"Isn't she like two, should she be in there alone?"

"She's not, you said I was over powered by girls, and I was, Gabriella's in there with her."

"She's the girl from your family living class, right?"

"Yeah, she's staying with us this weekend, things are getting worse for her at home and being with us takes her mind off it, plus Jasmine loves her, so that makes it so much better."

Tim blew his whistle at someone in the pool. "Yeah and that makes it even better because _you_ like her as well, don't deny it, you have that look in your eye when you talk about her."

"Maybe I do, but Jazzy comes first, you know that."

"Yeah I know, I'm just saying that when you decide to ask her out, and you will, it'll be a lot easier for you because Jasmine already knows and likes her."

"I swear Tim, if you mention any of this to Gabriella you are gonna end up in that pool with us, boss or no boss."

"Okay, I'm backing off now, besides, your girls are done changing." Tim said, as he pointed behind Troy before turning away and heading back to his post.

"Wow look at you, don't you look pretty." Troy said to Jasmine who had on a pink costume with white flowers on, she had her pink fluff towel cuddled close to her chest.

"Gabwi looks pwetty as well Daddy."

Troy looked over at both Jasmine and Gabriella, his daughter was right, Gabriella did look pretty, but what got him the most was that Tim was also right; he did like Gabriella, a lot.

"Daddy, we go swimming now?"

Troy blinked a few times to bring himself out of his daydream before answering his daughter.

"Yeah sweetie we can go swimming now, why don't you take yours and Gabi's towels over to the bench and put them with mine while me and Gabi blow up your arm bands, okay?"

Jasmine nodded, as she took Gabriella's towel from her and made her way over to the bench, passing Troy on his way to Gabriella.

"She's right you know? You do look pretty." Troy said, before taking an arm band from Gabriella and started to blow it up, stopping either of them from saying anything else, as Gabriella started to do the same.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Oi Bolton, if you're gonna splash about in my swimming pool on one of your days off, at least introduce me to the lovely ladies you're with."

Troy stopped splashing Gabriella and turned round to face his boss, who had since sat down at the side of the pool, his legs dangling into the water.

"Why? So you can embarrass me?" Troy asked, as he swam over to Tim.

"No, so I can meet your daughter and the girl who you _so_ fancy and then tease you because you two _so_ match."

"You just sounded so like a girl, it's unbelievable."

"Yeah well, when you live with four daughters and a wife you have no choice but to have girly conversations with them."

"Okay, I'm gonna go and get the girls now because you're really starting to freak me out."

Tim just laughed and splashed water at Troy urging him to and get Gabriella and Jasmine.

"Tim, this little cutie in the pink costume is my daughter Jasmine and the other cutie in the white bikini is my friend from school, Gabriella."

"It's really nice to meet you both, Bolton over here never shuts up about you both, especially you Jasmine, it's kinda boring really." Tim said, as he dodged Troy's attempt at pulling him into the pool as well.

Gabriella laughed at the splash war that had begun between Troy and Tim. She was worried that by wearing a bikini Troy would think of her as a slut, but when he'd started complimenting her all afternoon, she realised she had nothing to worry about.

"Come on Jasmine, I think it's time for us to go and get changed and then visit the cafe in the foyer, we'll meet you out there Troy."

Troy gave them a thumbs up in understanding, before turning to watch Gabriella help Jasmine swim across the pool and get out. One thing was for sure, Gabriela would be playing a very big part in his and Jasmine's lives from now on.

**TGTGTGTG**

"You need to talk to your parents about this you know? You can't keep living like this; not being able to sleep in your own home isn't fair Brie, especially because it puts your health at risk."

"Yeah I know and you're right, but I think maybe I'll just try and speak to Mum alone, Dad can get angry sometimes, especially when he's being told the truth."

"So long as you talk to someone Brie that's what matters, just don't put yourself at risk doing it, okay?"

"I won't Troy, I'll talk to Mum, she doesn't like fighting with anyone, let alone with me. You'll be here though right? If it gets too much I can come to you, right?"

"You don't even need to ask that, if you need me you phone me, if I answer I'll come get you, if I don't then I'm at the pool and you come there, ask for me, I'll take a break and we'll talk, okay?"

Gabriella nodded. "Thanks Troy."

"It's no problem honestly, now how about we go to sleep? We've been sitting on the bed for long enough now, and I'm pretty sure the idea is that we get under the covers and lay down to sleep, so hug?"

Gabriella smiled at Troy, as they both climbed under the covers and Gabriella once again settled herself down onto her Troy like pillow.

"Okay, so the alarm is set, Jasmine's asleep, we're both in bed, and now we go to sleep and see what tomorrow brings."

"It will be okay, won't it Troy?"

"Course it will be and if I'm completely wrong then I'm here, day or night. So stop worrying, get some sleep and we'll take tomorrow as it comes, bit by bit, _together."_

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, chapter four, hope you liked it!**

**I'm so so so sorry it's taken me this long to update, I planned on getting it out sooner, but every time I tried I just wouldn't get anywhere and ended up only writing little bits, but I finally made it today, I just hope you haven't all given up on me:)**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	5. Everything's Gonna Be Okay

**Here it is guys chapter five, enjoy!**

Everything's Gonna Be Okay

She'd never been the type of person to keep things from her parents, she'd always told them the truth, even when lying would've probably been better, but now she was starting to regret her inability to lie.

Upon arriving home after school on Monday, Gabriella had fortunately only found her Mum home and so had taken the opportunity to talk to her about where she'd been all weekend and, more importantly, her feelings on her parent's recent behaviour.

Her Mum had apologised for the way that she'd acted telling Gabriella she would never intentionally upset or hurt her. They'd spoken in depth about what was happening between Greg and Maria and it had been decided that Gabriella really needed to tell her Dad how she was feeling.

That was why, now, on Tuesday morning before school, they both stood in their kitchen waiting for Greg to come down stairs so Gabriella could talk to him.

"Good morning, good morning, how are my lovely ladies today?" Greg Montez had always been a morning person, always happy and ready for the day to begin. Today, Gabriella knew that was all about to change.

"Morning darling." Maria greeted her husband, as he started their day off with a kiss.

"Gabi, aren't you going to say good morning to your old Dad?" Greg asked, as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"No." Gabriella wasn't going to mess about. She knew the way her Dad was acting was hurting her Mum and the fact that he was acting like nothing was happening, simply made it worse.

"Excuse me? I think you need to re-think the way you just spoke to me young lady."

"I don't Dad, why should I act like everything is okay, when _clearly_ it isn't."

"I really think you should start re-thinking the way you're talking to me Gabriella."

"_I_ really don't Dad, I'm not gonna stand here and pretend that everything is okay, when it's not. I'm not going to stand around and listen to you and Mum argue anymore and I'm definitely not gonna stand around while you upset Mum. She's only ever been nice to you, looked after you, cleaned for you, cooked for you, let you work while she stayed at home and looked after me, she's only ever wanted the best for either of us, and all you seem to do is throw it straight back in her face."

Greg stayed silent, Gabriella had never spoken to him in this way before and he was going to make sure she never did it again.

"You take that all back right this instant young lady." Greg wasn't shouting, but his voice was raised and Gabriella knew she now had to be careful with what she said.

"I can't Dad 'cause you know what it's all true, every last bit of it and more. You were throwing things at her Dad, thing that could've seriously hurt her, I get she was throwing things back, but a towel is hardly gonna hurt you. You wanna know what gets me most? The fact that you always act like everything is okay, the fact you don't seem to care that what you do and say, really does hurt Mum, and me. I'm not a child anymore Dad, I actually understand what you're saying when you argue. I actually understand the fact that you regret ever having me."

"What have you said to her? Where is all this coming from?" Greg had now turned his attention to Maria, he was certain that she had something to do with Gabriella's outbreak, there was no way his daughter would have the confidence to do this alone.

"Don't turn all this on me, she's seventeen Greg, she's right, she does understand what we talk about now, she's obviously picked up on what you've been saying recently, so_ I_ really think you should listen to what she has to say."

"WHY? Why should I listen to what our brat of a daughter has to say? We never wanted her, she was a mistake, we should've gotten rid of her when we still had the chance. Now we're stuck with her for the rest of our lives." Greg was full on angry now and Gabriella knew it, she hadn't even realised she was crying until Greg started shouting again.

"Don't think you'll shut me up by turning on the water works, it isn't going to work because you know what? We never wanted you, either of us, you were a mistake, a horrible mistake and I wish your Mum had of had the abortion while she still had the chance. I _hate_ you Gabriella, I've _always_ hated you, you're a worthless, pathetic excuse of a daughter and I wish you'd never been born."

Gabriella was full on crying now, but she didn't care. She _wanted_ to know the truth; she _needed_ to know if her Mum really did regret having her.

But she didn't get the chance to ask, as Greg's hand came into contact with her face.

As the stinging sensation caused by the slap ran through her entire body, Gabriella seemed to turn on auto pilot.

She ran out of the room, leaving her parents to start their daily arguing.

She ran towards the front door, grabbing her school bag on the way, desperately wanting to get to the person who she knew would offer her the comfort she was suddenly craving.

**TGTGTGTG**

She'd never been a good runner, but for some reason, today her legs just seemed to take over. She'd been running since she left home, and the walk that normally took her twenty minutes, today took her just over ten, but the fact she felt like she was about to collapse didn't have time to run through her mind, she just needed to get to Troy.

She could see the school now, it was just over the road, and the tears that had once ceased started up again, as she finally realised what her Dad had actually done to her.

She was on the school site now and she could see the others, they were all standing under the tree where Troy had found her the other day while she was arguing with her Mum on the phone. All she had to do was make it that little bit further, keep her legs moving for a little while longer, then she'd be in his arms, and then, only then, would she feel safe.

She wanted to call him, get him to come to her, to meet her half way, but she couldn't, she tried, but nothing came out, her voice just wouldn't work and that only made the tears fall faster.

As she looked up, willing her legs to take those last few steps her eyes met with Chad's and after that, everything just seemed to go in slow motion.

She watched through blurry eyes, as Chad pointed her out to the others and Troy turned round to look at her and as their eyes met; her whole world started crashing down around her.

Her legs crumpled underneath her and she fell to the ground, there was no stopping it, she'd run all the way to school, not stopping for anyone or anything and this was her body's way of telling her enough was enough, she'd taken on to much physical and mental pain this morning and now she needed to stop and get help.

She wasn't sure how long she was lying there for, but she didn't care, she just couldn't move any further. Her body was shaking uncontrollably, her face stinging from the slap, her legs aching from the unexpected run and her eyes sore and red from the abnormal amount of crying.

But, as her breathing started to become uncontrollable from the tears she felt two strong arms wrap round her petite frame, and she knew that everything really was going to be okay.

**TGTGTGTG**

Mrs Bearn really wanted to phone the emergency services, she wanted to tell the police what Greg Montez had done and she really wanted some medics to come and check out Gabriella, she was still shaking uncontrollably and this really worried Mrs Bearn.

But Gabriella had gone crazy at this idea and simply just wanted to be in Troy's arms. Luckily for everyone else Troy didn't mind one bit and hadn't let her go since he carried her in from the front of the school.

"Gabriella, why don't you at least let Troy take you home? Your parents will have gone to work by now and I can get you both some work to do if that's what you're worried about." Mrs Bearn simply wasn't happy with the state Gabriella was in.

"I don't wanna go home, I can't, I'm scared, can't I just stay in school? I'm fine really I just need to stop crying that's all."

Mrs Bearn sighed, as she knelt down in front of the chair that Troy and Gabriella were sat on. "Okay, I'm clearly not gonna win this battle, so here's what I'm gonna do. I've already emailed most of the staff telling them what has happened, just so they know why you aren't yourself at the minute, now I'm going to go and talk to your teachers for today, both of you, and I'm going to see if I can get some work for you guys to do by yourselves in the library, it's one of your favourite places to be while you here, right Gabriella?"

"Yeah, I like to sit on the bean bags at the back, by the big windows."

"Okay, you guys make your way to the library, maybe stop off at the toilets on the way and give your face a wash sweetie, but make sure you're settled on the bean bags by the time I get there. I'm going to go and speak to you teachers, bring you some work and leave you to it for the rest of the day. At some point today I'll go speak to your teachers for tomorrow and grab you some work and try and get it to you by the end of the day, that way if you don't want to be here tomorrow all you need to do is phone in and let me know. Troy, I'm assuming Gabriella can stay with you again, is that okay? Just for a couple of days, until I get the chance to speak to Mrs Montez."

"It's completely fine; we'll stop by Gabriella's on the way home and get her enough supplies for say a week? Her parents won't be back 'til this evening so we should have plenty of time. Also if she's at mine I can be the judge as to whether she comes to school tomorrow."

"That's a grand idea Troy, a week's supply should be fine, I'm hoping it won't be that long, but just in case. Now, start making your way to the library and I'll be there in half an hour."

Troy nodded in understanding to what Mrs Bearn had said and gently spoke to Gabriella, urging her off of his lap, so he could gather their bags together, before wrapping his arm securely around her and giving her the comfort she'd set off to find.

**TGTGTGTG**

It was lunch time and now that Troy and Gabriella had been working extremely hard all morning Troy decided it was time that they took a break, and he was _not_ taking no for an answer.

"Please Brie, just so you can eat and relax, it's only for an hour, you need to get food into your system, you won't be able to concentrate any more if you don't, please Brie." Troy was pleading with her for the fourth time in five minutes and so far she hadn't taken her pen away from her paper.

This time though she seemed to be listening. Her pen stopped its movements and she dropped it and her current piece of work to the floor, before collapsing against the window and breaking down.

"Oh Brie, sweetie, come here, come on, it's all gonna be okay." She didn't resist, as Troy moved across and pulled her into his arms, cradling her against his chest, as her body once again began to shake and the tears began pouring from her eyes.

His soothing hand that ran up and down her back and through her hair seemed to calm her and slowly but surely the tears started to disperse and the shaking came to a stop.

"I'm sorry, I just, when I'm upset or angry I bury myself in work to try and forget. Every time you spoke to me you reminded me what happened this morning and in the end I just broke, I'm sorry."

"Hey now, you have nothing to be sorry for, I'd be kinda worried if you weren't upset after what your Dad did to you."

Gabriella sighed. "I don't wanna talk about him anymore, I don't care and before you ask I don't want any lunch I'm not hungry."

Troy was about to answer and talk her into eating _something,_ but his phone beat him to it, so he answered it before it disrupted others in the library.

"Hello?" With his mind preoccupied on the girl currently cuddled up against him, he didn't bother to check the caller id.

"_Hey Troy, its Chad. We were just heading to the canteen and wondered if you guys wanted us to grab you some food and bring it to the library? We were also wondering if Gabs would be up to some company?"_

"Erm, lunch sounds good thanks Chad; could you grab me a burger and chips and also get an extra portion of chips for Gabriella?" Troy didn't care what Gabriella had said, he was going to get her to eat one way or another.

"_Yeah course that's no problem, how is she? Is she up for company?"_

"Hang on I'll ask her. Brie, are you okay with the others coming to sit with us for lunch?" Gabriella nodded from against Troy's head and Troy quickly replayed the message to Chad before ending the call.

"It's only him and Taylor coming, the others are sorting out some scenery for Darbus. Are you okay down there? You aren't falling asleep on me are you?"

"Almost, I didn't get much sleep last night, I was too worried about talking to Dad this morning, guess I was right to be really."

"Yeah well that's all over now, if you still tired later on, and let's face it this crying hasn't helped, then we'll go and speak to Mrs Bearn and see if she'll let us go early, okay?"

"Yeah I guess so, we'll go back to yours though, right?"

"'Course we will, we'll need to stop off at yours and grab your stuff so we don't have to keep going back, but after that we'll go to mine, you don't need to worry Brie, we won't bump into your parents, I'll make sure of it."

Gabriella didn't answer, she just cuddled herself closer to Troy and didn't move until Taylor and Chad arrived with lunch.

"Okay, these are ours and these are yours, my treat." Chad said, as he handed two take away lunch boxes over to Troy and then took a seat next to Taylor on some bean bags opposite Troy and Gabriella.

"I thought I told you I wasn't hungry." Gabriella said to Troy, as she sat up fully and tried to straighten herself out, she really was more tired than she first thought.

"You did, but you didn't eat at break and I bet you, you didn't eat any breakfast either so you're eating, they're only chips."

"So, I told you I wasn't hungry, all you've done is wasted Chad's money."

"No I haven't because I know you'll eat these in a minute, you just need to calm down and realise that you really are quite hungry."

Gabriella sighed and let a small smile creep onto her lips, as she held her hand out to take the chips from Troy, taking note of the fact he already knew her so well.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Today's been a rubbish day." Troy stated a little while after lunch had finished and Chad and Taylor had left.

"Why?" Gabriella asked, as she collected together the day's work and put it into a pile to hand back to Mrs Bearn later on.

"Because all I've done today is watch my two favourite girls cry and that's not a nice thing to do."

"What do you mean 'two favourite girls'? Who has been crying?"

"Well you, obviously, and Jasmine, she was really clingy this morning and she cried when I took her to nursery this morning, she hasn't done that since her first day, I had to put her in Julie's arms and then leave without her knowing, it was horrible."

"I bet, what was the matter with her?" Gabriella asked, completely trying to gloss over the fact Troy had said she was one of his favourite girls.

"I don't know, I couldn't get it out of her, she hardly spoke to me this morning either, I'm not at work again 'til the day after tomorrow, so hopefully I can cheer her up before then, otherwise it'll be horrible when I leave."

"I'll be there though, she knows me now and seems to like me, hopefully I can make it a bit easier."

"She does like you and you will make it easier." Troy answered reassuringly, as his phone once again started to ring. "I wonder who this is the others are all in lessons now."

"Hello?"

"_Hey Troy it's Julie, is there any chance you could come and get Jasmine? She fell over in the playground and hurt her knee, she won't stop crying and keeps asking for you, it really would be best if you could come get her."_

"I just need to inform the office then I'm on my way Julie, will she be okay 'til then?"

"_Yeah she'll be fine, I'll see you in a bit."_

"Okay, thanks Julie, bye."

"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked, as Troy hung up the phone and she collected their things, figuring from the fact he was speaking to Julie they needed to leave.

"I'm not really sure, all I know is that Jazzy needs me, so I've gotta go, but you're coming as well. We need to speak to Mrs Bearn and then head straight there, after that we'll head to yours and get some of your stuff together, and after that back to mine, then who knows what'll follow."

Gabriella interlaced her fingers with Troy's as they made their way out of the library. Troy was one of the most dedicated guys to their school work she'd ever known, but when it came to his daughter he'd drop everything just to get to her.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy chuckled softly, as he watched Jasmine try to get her soft mini basketball through her mini hoop, but with no avail. Troy had been captain of his old school's basketball team since his second year of High school, but quit when Jasmine was born and hadn't picked up a basketball since, except for when he and Jasmine would play very unfair games of one on one.

"Jazzy, why don't you let Daddy help you?" Troy asked his daughter, as he got up from the couch and went and sat on the floor next to her, a few feet in front of the hoop.

"No I don't want your help, Jazzy better than Daddy."

"Really, what about Rosie? Is she good to?" Troy asked, picking the bear up from the floor next to him.

"Yeah, Rosie better than Daddy too." Jasmine simply stated, as she took Rosie from Troy and together they finally managed to get the ball through the hoop.

"Okay then, you two play basketball while I go and check on Gabi, okay?"

"Okay Daddy." Troy ruffled Jasmine's hair, as he got up and made his way to his bed room.

On the ride home from Gabriella's, Jasmine had fallen asleep in the car, so Troy had changed her clothes to something more comfortable and put her to bed.

Troy had made his way back to the lounge area only to find Gabriella hardly able to stay awake herself, so he'd found her some comfy sweats from her bag, sent her to go and get changed and then tucked her into his bed, where she'd quickly fallen asleep.

Upon entering his bedroom Troy found Gabriella starting to wake up.

"Hey Brie, how you feeling now?" Troy asked, as he walked round and climbed onto his side of the bed.

"I've felt better, but that sleep did make a difference, I've just got a lot of catching up to do is all. How's Jasmine? I heard you guys talking, so I guess she's awake?"

"Yeah, she woke up just over half an hour ago, she's playing basketball with Rosie because apparently they're both better than me." Troy said holding his arms open for Gabriella to cuddle into before she even asked.

"Can you play basketball then?"

"Yep, I was captain of the team back home from my second year there, I quit when Jazzy was born though, I haven't played since."

"If Jessica hadn't of died would you of kept playing? If you don't mind me asking that is."

"It's fine Brie I honestly don't mind talking about Jess, I'm gonna have to answer all Jazzy's questions when she's older so I might as well get used to it now. Would I have kept playing? I'm not sure really, Jess didn't come to many of my games, she didn't like the noise or simply the game, so I really don't know, it probably would've depended on what my grades were like, with looking after a new born and sleep loss, you know?""

"Yeah I see your point, the boys have got a game on Friday night, you gonna come?"

"Yeah I guess so ,it'll be weird to watch a game instead of play in it, but don't tell the others I play Brie, please. When I did play basketball was my everything, I can't do that again, not now that I've Jasmine to look after, she's my everything now."

"It's okay Troy I understand, maybe Jasmine could come to the game as well, if you're okay with her meeting the others that is."

"Do you think they'd except her? Like you did? I don't want them to look at me differently or not at all just because they find out that I've got a daughter."

"I'm not sure Troy, I know that's not what you wanna hear, but I've obviously never had to deal with this before, I don't know what the others will think of Jasmine, but there really is only one way to find out."

"Yeah I guess you're right, hang on a minute, I came in here to reassure you that everything's gonna be okay, but it looks like we swapped places."

Gabriella laughed. "Makes a difference though, me reassuring you and not the other way round. Is it Troy? Is it all gonna be okay?"

Troy pulled Gabriella closer and gently kissed her forehead. "Everything really is going to be okay Brie, Mrs Bearn will speak to your Mum and then probably both of you together, but your Mum only wants what's best for you, so I'm sure she'll do everything she can to make sure your Dad _never_ hurts _either_ of you again."

Gabriella nuzzled her face against Troy's chest and simply enjoyed the feeling of being in his arms.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Is Gabwi awake?" Jasmine's voice called through the flat, as both Troy and Gabriella chuckled, wondering why Jasmine hadn't just come to find out herself.

"Why don't you come down here and find out?"

Troy didn't receive an answer but he could hear Jasmine talking to Rosie, so he figured she was en route.

"Gabwi, you're awake!" Jasmine exclaimed, as she ran into the bedroom and jumped onto the bed landing on Troy's legs.

"Hey Jazzy, how are you?" Gabriella asked the small girl, as Troy hooked one of his legs over her to stop her falling off the bed.

"Okay, you better now Gabwi?" Jasmine responded, as she wriggled her way in between Troy and Gabriella, Troy instantly wrapping his arms around them both.

"A little sweetie, I just need lots of sleep, that's all."

"Here," Jasmine said, as she handed Rosie over to Gabriella. "Rosie will make you feel betwer." Gabriella took the cuddly bear from Jasmine, who then wriggled out from Troy's arms to go and play more basketball.

"You should feel honoured, Rosie never goes more than a few feet away from her. By giving you Rosie it's her way of telling you everything thing will be okay. And she's right, everything _is_ gonna be okay."

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, chapter five hope you liked it!**

**Zanessa, what to say? What to say? The whole thing seems pretty crazy if you ask me and I still don't really wanna believe it, so I've got two ways of looking at it: if they've split up, I wish them both the best and will continue to follow them both, if they haven't split, then people need to stop making up crazy rumours:)**

**While we're on the topic: Happy Belated Birthday Vanessa! I hope you enjoy your party at the weekend!**

**As always guys:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	6. Meeting Jasmine

**Thanks for the lovely review for the last chapter guys, but seriously only four, I'm starting to lose faith here guys, why should I carry on when only a few people bother reviewing? It doesn't take that long, it would just make me very happy.**

**But, now that I'm done ranting, here's chapter six, enjoy!**

Meeting Jasmine

"Thank you again for coming Mrs Montez and if there's anything either of you are worried about please don't hesitate to contact me."

"It was my pleasure Mrs Bearn, at least now I know how Gabi is feeling and hopefully now that my husband has completely moved out we can get ourselves back to some sort of normality, right Gabi?"

"I hope so Mum, I really miss the relationship we used to have, I just want it back."

"Me too, but I promise you sweetie, we'll get there. Thank you again Mrs Bearn, for this meeting and for looking after Gabi recently it seems she keeps things bottled up inside more than I first realised."

"I'm only doing my job Mrs Montez, but thank you all the same." Mrs Bearn and Mrs Montez shook hands before Gabriella led her Mum back out to the front of the school to her car.

"So, you coming back tonight?" Maria asked, as she unlocked her car and put her bag inside.

"Could I maybe come back tomorrow? The guys have got a game tonight and Troy is going to bring Jasmine and introduce her to the others, I think he kinda wants me to be there, is that okay with you?"

"I don't see why it isn't, it gives me a chance to tidy the place up a bit, get things ready for your return, it's been really quiet without you around, I've missed you Gabi and I'm sorry I didn't see how much all of this was affecting you."

"It's okay Mum, you know now and that's what matters most, could we maybe have your special Spaghetti Bolognese tomorrow night for tea? I really miss your cooking."

"I think I could arrange that, why don't you invite over Troy and Jasmine as well? They've been kind enough to have you live at theirs, I think the least we could do is give them dinner for the evening, what do you think?"

"That's a great idea Mum; I'll have to check with Troy first though he might have to work."

"Well I think you could do that now, I see an unknown person walking in our direction." Maria said, as she pointed to a boy behind Gabriella.

Gabriella turned round to indeed see Troy walking in their direction. "Hey, I thought you were with the others, I told you I'd meet you in class."

"I was, but then they started talking about tonight, so I decided to come and see if you were finished yet and as I turned the corner you were coming out here, so here I am." Troy stated like a child who had just accomplished something big.

Gabriella laughed at how proud Troy was of himself for finding her. "Okay, fair enough, anyway, Mum, this is my new friend Troy, Troy, this is my Mum Maria."

"It's nice to meet you Maria."

"Likewise Troy." Maria responded, as she and Troy shook hands.

"Oh, Troy I have a question for you, Mum and I would like to know if you and Jasmine would like to come over for dinner tomorrow night? Mum's cooking her special Spaghetti Bolognese."

"I'm not working, so that would be lovely, thank you Maria."

"It's not a problem Troy, you and Jasmine have been looking after Gabi for me recently, the least I can do is cook you dinner, I'll see you tomorrow at say six?"

"Yeah, that sounds great to me, thank you so much Maria."

"It really isn't a problem Troy, anyway guys I need to get back to work, I'll see you tomorrow, I love you Gabi."

"I love you too Mum." Gabriella said, as she and Maria hugged before Maria got in her car and drove off.

"You not going home 'til tomorrow then?" Troy asked, as they started to make their way inside.

"No, I kinda though you wanted me with you after tonight's game, if you don't its fine, I can always go home early."

"Brie its fine, I _do_ want you there tonight, I'm kinda used to you being there."

"Yeah well if you hadn't made me stay off school on Wednesday you wouldn't be used to it, would you?"

"Brie, will you stop moaning about that? You could barely stand up without falling over because you were so tired, there was no way you'd be able to survive the day at school, we had work, it's not like we missed anything. Besides, if you'd of come in you'd of been alone because I would've kept Jasmine at home whether you were there or not."

Troy had woken up on Wednesday morning to his daughter's cries and upon entering her room had found her nose a little runny and a tired look in her eyes. By the time he'd quietened her down and given her some medicine they were running late anyway and Gabriella hadn't even woken up yet, so Troy made the decision that they'd all stay at home and catch up on sleep.

"Yeah I guess you're right, at least she's better now, I'm not gonna stop moaning though, all we did that day was stay in bed, we even did our work in bed, I've never stayed in bed all day, come to think of it, I've never been allowed."

"Just shush will you? You and I both know that Wednesday did us all the world of good, so shut it Montez!"

"You should not have said that Bolton! You so should not have said that." Gabriella responded, as Troy took off running knowing she'd get him back somehow or another.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Gabwi!" Jasmine shouted, as she ran through to the living room where Gabriella was packing the last of her things to take home tomorrow.

"Hey Jazzy, how ya doin'?" She asked the young girl, as she picked her up and sat her on her lap.

"Me good, you do my hair? Daddy getting changed."

"I think I can do that, how would you like it done? How about I do two little plaits for you?"

"Yes pwease."

"Okay then you go and get you brush and hair bands and then come back here okay?"

"Okay Gabwi." Jasmine said, as she slipped off Gabriella's lap and ran towards her bedroom.

Ten minutes later Jasmine's hair was plaited and she and Gabriella were ready to go, they were just waiting on Troy.

"Gabwi I'm bored."

"I know sweetie, I'm sure your Dad will be done pretty soon."

"Up pwease." Jasmine requested, as she turned to Gabriella and held her arms up in the air.

"Okay, come here little one." Gabriella picked Jasmine up and rested her on her right hip, allowing Jasmine to bury her head in the crook of Gabriella's neck.

"You aren't tired already are you Jazzy? We haven't even got there yet." Troy's voice was what caused Gabriella to look up from the little girl in her arms.

She smiled. "She's not tired just bored 'cause you were taking so long. What have you been doing?"

"Sorry Jazzy," Troy apologised, as he ran a hand up and down his daughter's back. "Daddy didn't mean to take so long he was just thinking about his friends meeting you, he's not sure they'll like you as much as Gabi does."

Jasmine simply turned round and held her arms out for Troy to take her from Gabriella, completely missing the underlying worry in her father's voice, something Gabriella _had_ picked up on.

"Troy, you need to stop worrying, I'm sure the gang will love Jasmine just as much as I do and won't think of you any differently either. But if they do, we leave, come back here and forget about it because if they can't accept that you're the best Dad Jasmine could ever ask for no matter what your age, then they really aren't great friends in the first place."

Troy shot Gabriella a thankful smile, placed a soft kiss on her forehead, took hold of her hand and led her and his daughter out of the flat to see how Jasmine would be accepted.

**TGTGTGTG**

The Wildcats had won, something they pretty much always did and now the gym had erupted into cheers, with a sea of red and white covering the floor.

"Daddy, I need a wee." Jasmine's small voice brought Troy back from his daydream of his days of being out on the court.

"Okay sweetie, Brie do you mind taking her? I was going to go and congratulate the guys."

"No it's fine, come on Jazzy." Troy watched, as Gabriella picked Jasmine up and then left the gym in the direction of the toilets, holding Jasmine close to her, as the small girl seemed to be scared of the growing crowd around her. Troy smile as he watched Gabriella's protectiveness over his daughter, he would deny this to anyone who asked, but he really liked Gabriella.

Troy made his way down the bleachers towards the gang, who were now some of the last people left in the gym, and joined the girls and Ryan in congratulating Zeke and Chad in their win.

"Congratulations guys! That was a great game!"

"Troy! Dude, I didn't even know you were here, thanks for coming man!"

"Chad, it's you first game since I started here, I wasn't gonna miss it now was I?"

"No I guess not, where did you and Gabi disappear to? The girls saw you come in, but you didn't go and sit with them like Gabi normally does, what happened?"

"We got here kinda late and just took the first seats we came across, sorry girls."

"It's okay Troy; we saw you arrive and just wondered where you'd disappeared to, where is she now for that matter? And who was that little girl that was with you? She looks a lot like you."

"Yeah, that's something I need to talk to you all about. You see I lied to you about why I came here, it was for a fresh start and I have fallen out with my parents, but I only fell out with them because my girlfriend was pregnant. Long story short, the little girl who was with us is my daughter Jasmine, her Mum died giving birth to her and now I'm all she's got, we moved here for a fresh start, away from everything that would remind us of Jess. I'm sorry guys."

The whole group was silent, they hadn't expected to hear that, the thought hadn't even crossed their minds, now with the truth laid out in front of them; no one knew what to say.

Luckily for everyone Jasmine and Gabriella arrived back from the toilet and Jasmine was eager to tell Troy what she'd just seen.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

"Hey pretty girl, what's up?" Troy picked Jasmine up and swung her round in his arms, happy for the distraction from the awkward moment.

"We saw a big cat, he gave me hug!"

"Really wow, that's great!" Troy exclaimed, as he looked over at Gabriella for an explanation.

"It was just the mascot, he was in the corridor and Jasmine liked the look of him so we went to get a closer look and he gave her hug, it was funny to see how small she is against him. How's it going?"

"It's not, none of them have said anything since I told them, I don't think they know what to say."

"It looks like they do now." Gabriella said, as she gestured towards the others who had all turned in their direction, looking as if they had something to say.

"Troy we're so sorry about her Mum, no one should ever have to go through that, especially someone of you age, we're so sorry." Taylor spoke on behalf of all the group, well most of them.

"Thanks guys, it means a lot, Jasmine means the world to me and means a lot to know you guys except her and me as a dad, so thank you."

"It's kinda hard to not except her, she's very cute, I just wish I could speak for all of us, I'm sorry Troy, Chad won't come over."

"I'm gonna go talk to him, Jazzy can you go to Gabi for a minute and speak to Daddy's other friends, is that okay?"

Jasmine nodded shyly and held her arms out towards Gabriella so that she could take her from Troy. Troy kissed Jasmine on the head, before turning round and walking over to Chad to see if he could find out what about his two year old daughter was bothering his new friend so much.

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella was glad she was staying that extra night at Troy's, his conversation with Chad hadn't gone well, but no one knew why.

Taylor and Gabriella stood with a tired Jasmine and watched as the two boys seemed to have a serious conversation. They had watched as things had started to get heated between the two and before they knew it, the boys were walking off in different directions, both looking very angry.

They had shared confused looks before each following their respective guys, Taylor followed Chad to the changing rooms and Gabriella and a now asleep Jasmine followed Troy out of the gym completely.

The drive home had been completely silent and it was Gabriella who had put Jasmine to bed when they'd arrived because Troy had walked straight through to his bedroom and hadn't come out since.

She'd phoned Taylor and asked her if Chad had told her what had happened, but apparently he hadn't said anything either, not about the argument anyway. She'd told Gabriella how Chad hadn't said a word to her until they arrived back to his, at which point he'd shyly asked Taylor to just hold him. Taylor explained how she'd never seen this side of Chad before and done exactly how he'd asked in fear of upsetting him more than he already seemed to be.

Gabriella tried to help Taylor understand, what about tonight would've upset Chad so much, but she couldn't come up with anything. She'd told Gabriella that if Chad was this upset, she suspected Troy would be to. Chad wasn't the type of guy to get upset over anything and she had a feeling Troy wasn't either, which is why she felt that he would be upset as well.

Taylor told Gabriella that if she tried to talk to Troy, she'd do her best with Chad, but she suspected neither of them would talk. She told Gabriella to just let it pass for a little while and sooner or later the guys would sort it out of their own accord.

So now, Gabriella stood outside Troy's closed bedroom door and took a deep breath before going in. She wasn't sure she'd be able to get him to talk so the best thing she could do was just be there for him, the exact same thing Taylor was doing for Chad, and the exact same thing Troy had been doing for her.

As she stepped inside she saw Troy sat on the edge of his bed, his elbows leaning on his legs and his head in his hands. He was facing away from her so Gabriella walked round to that side of the bed and knelt down in front of him in an attempt to get his attention.

"Troy, what happened back there? I spoke to Taylor, and Chad won't tell her anything either, he just went really quiet and asked her for a hug. She has no idea what's happening, but suspects it isn't good, we just have no idea what. I'm not gonna try and get you to talk to me Troy, I can tell this has really upset you, but if you wanna talk, I'm here, just like Taylor is for Chad. I'm gonna go back and sleep on the couch tonight, if you want me you know where I am." Gabriella gave Troy's knee's a slight squeeze, before getting up and making her way towards the door.

"Wait!" Troy stopped Gabriella just as she made it to the door. "Don't go, please stay in here, I don't wanna be by myself tonight. I can't tell you what happened in the gym, I'm still trying to take it all in, it was really scary, he just blew off at me and walked off. If I'm by myself tonight I'll just lay awake and think, please Gabriella stay with me."

Gabriella turned round and made her way back over to Troy, where she once again knelt down in front of him. He sounded so shy, like Taylor said Chad had and Gabriella knew that whatever had happened between the two boys, it had really got them both thinking.

"Troy, look at me please. Troy, just lift your head and look me in the eye, please." Gabriella's voice was calm and soft and she gently took hold of Troy's hands, as she waited for him to look at her.

When he did, the shyness and vulnerability that was in his voice were also present in his eyes. "This has really got you thinking, hasn't it?" Gabriella asked, as she gave Troy's hands a tight squeeze.

Troy nodded. "I'm so confused right now Brie, what Chad said, it didn't make much sense, but it really got me thinking."

"What did he say that got you thinking? Was there anything in specific?" Gabriella was careful to keep things simple, knowing Troy had a lot running through his mind to answer complicated questions.

"He said something about it not being fair, something about Jasmine still being alive and yet they don't wanna see her, he just kept going on saying how it wasn't fair. When I asked him what wasn't fair, he flipped and left, I'm so confused Brie."

"I know you are honey, but I really have no idea what to tell you, other than to forget about it for now, sleep on it, let it lie for a bit and that way you and Chad have both had a chance to think things through. Why don't you jump in the shower? You can stand under the hot water, wash everything away and just relax for a bit. I'm gonna get changed, tidy round the flat, lock up, then I'll meet you back here and we can watch some telly and relax together before bed, sound good?"

Troy nodded and placed a kiss on Gabriella's forehead, before helping her up and then making his way towards his bathroom.

**TGTGTGTG**

She was cuddled against him and he was still asleep, she could feel his even breathing lifting her head up and down as it lay comfortably on his chest. So then why, if he was still asleep, was there movement behind her on the bed?

She rolled slightly to her right, careful not to wake Troy and found Jasmine trying to climb onto the bed.

"Jazzy sweetheart, what are you doing here?" Gabriella whispered, as she moved further across the bed and helped Jasmine up.

"Sceawy dweam, Daddy was shouting, like at the big school."

"Aw sweetie, Daddy wasn't shouting at you, him and Chad were both very upset over something, but it's okay now. Did they scare you earlier?"

Jasmine nodded, as she snuggled herself closer to Gabriella. "Sweetie, you know your Daddy would never shout at you like that, him and Chad were just upset, Chad never normally shouts like that either, okay? They would never scare you on purpose."

"Is Daddy okay?"

"He's fine, he's asleep now, like we should be, so you wanna stay here or go back to your own bed?"

"Stay here pwease."

"Okay honey, but you need to stay really quiet in the morning and cuddle with me if you want to cuddle, not Daddy, I think it's best if he rests, okay?"

"Okay Gabwi." Jasmine's answer was followed by a yawn and pretty soon afterwards she was sound asleep like Troy.

Gabriella laid awake for a while after that, her left hand gently running through Troy's hair and her right gently running up and down Jasmine's back. She really had no idea what had happened between Troy and Chad in the gym, _but_ what she did know was that she was growing incredibly fond of the small family that had come into her life only a short time ago.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Gabwi? Is your Mummy nice?"

"Of course she is sweetie, just like your Daddy." Gabriella did her best to stop Jasmine's fears, as she undid her seat belt and lifted her out of Troy's truck.

"Jazzy I told you earlier, Gabi's Mummy is lovely just like Gabi is herself, so you have no need to be scared, okay?"

"Okay Daddy." Jasmine still wasn't sure about meeting a new person and wanted to be in her Daddy's arms as she did, so she held her arms out to Troy and waited for him to take her from Gabriella's arms into his own.

Gabriella took her bag from Troy and led them up her driveway and onto her front porch where she stopped and turned round to look at them.

"You ready?" She asked, as she dug her hand into her bag to find her keys.

Troy adjusted Jasmine on his left hip as his right hand raised up and cupped Gabriella's face. "Brie, I've met your Mum, she's lovely and I really want to get to know her because I really want to get to know you, and I have a funny feeling you two are gonna start becoming a package again before long, so if I wanna get to know one of you, I have to get to know the other. Why are you even worried? We're the ones who have been invited over, shouldn't we be worried?"

"Yeah you're right, you should, but you're not, and I'm just being stupid." Gabriella said, as she turned round to unlock the door, but was stopped as Troy grabbed her free hand.

"You, Gabriella Montez could never be stupid, you hear me?" Gabriella ducked her head, as a crimson coloured blush ran onto her face, giving Troy the opportunity to plant a not so subtle kiss onto her head.

The flirting was _obvious_ and they _both_ knew it.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Maria that was lovely, thank you so much."

"It's my pleasure Troy, like I said yesterday, you and Jasmine have been taking care of Gabi recently, this was the least I could do in return."

"I wasn't about to let Gabi carry on the way she was, things could've been a lot worse if I did."

"Will you two stop talking about me as if I'm not here, and maybe pay more attention to the fact your daughter has spaghetti _and_ spaghetti sauce everywhere Troy."

Troy looked over to Jasmine to find that she had spaghetti sauce all over her face and spaghetti itself all over the table and floor.

"Jazzy, what are you doing? Look at the mess you've made, I think you should say sorry to Maria for making the mess."

"Sorry Mawia."

"It's okay honey, how about you come with me and we'll get you cleaned up and find some ice cream, while your Daddy and Gabi tidy up?"

Jasmine nodded her head furiously and looked at Troy for the go ahead, something Maria was looking for as well.

"That is okay with you Troy?"

"Yeah it's fine, Jazzy can you say thank you to Maria please?"

"Thank wou Mawia."

"That's okay sweetie, come on, let's go see what I've got." Maria lifted Jasmine out of her chair and took her through to the kitchen for a wash and some ice cream.

"Remind again why you were so worried Montez?" Troy asked, as they tidied up.

Gabriella laughed. "It's so crazy, Jasmine is such a quiet little girl and yet she excepted me and Mum just like that, we could have been anyone for all she knew."

"Yeah, but you weren't, you're Maria and Gabriella Montez, an amazing business woman and an incredibly, beautiful and talented young lady, one I really want to get to know better."

Gabriella once again ducked her head, as the same crimson blush made its way onto her face.

"Stop doing that," Troy said, as he gently hocked a finger under her chin and made her look up at him. "You_ are_ all of those things, and I _really_ would like to get to know you better, so stop blushing and get used to it, there's a lot more where that came from."

Gabriella felt her cheeks getting hotter, but managed to keep eye contact with Troy. "I'm sorry, but no one has ever complimented me like that before, especially not someone my own age."

"Yeah, well start getting used to it, because I mean it Gabriella, I want to get to know you so much more than I already do, okay?"

Gabriella nodded her head and allowed Troy to gently lean forward and press a soft kiss to her lips. It wasn't anything big, just a simple peck, but to them, it meant the world.

To Gabriella it meant she was taking that first step to growing in confidence and stepping out of her boundaries.

And to Troy, to Troy it meant that he was finally able to let go of the fact that Jessica was gone, but most importantly he'd found someone who not only loved him for being him, but loved Jasmine as well, and that, _that_ meant the world_._

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, chapter six, out in super quick time, are you proud of me?**

**I'll TRY and update before Christmas, but if I don't, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy the holidays :)**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	7. Growing Closer

**Here it is guys; the next chapter hope you like it!**

**Thanks for all the reviews last chapter, you all made me so happy :)**

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**Anyway, I'm done thanking now, here's chapter seven, enjoy!**

Growing Closer

Troy had never been able to work out why people would want to go swimming at six in the morning, especially on a Sunday, but apparently they did, and it was because people liked swimming at such crazy hours, that lifeguards were needed to keep them safe.

Today, Troy was one of those lifeguards, and so at four thirty he'd pulled himself out of bed, showered dressed, eaten breakfast, done some ironing, let a still pyjama clad Jenni in, given a still sleeping Jasmine a kiss goodbye, grabbed his keys and wallet and left to go to work.

It was on early morning shifts like these that only two lifeguards were on because there were rarely more than five people in the pool at one time. Today the other person on shift with Troy was Tim and it was on shifts like these, when it was just the two of them, that Tim would give Troy advice on things that were happening in his life.

Today would have been no different, except for a certain curly haired swimmer who had caught both Troy and Tim's attention.

"You should go and talk to him you know, it's obvious something has happened between the two of you that needs to be sorted out."

"Yeah, I guess you're right Tim, you gonna be okay by yourself for a bit?"

"Troy I wouldn't have told you to talk to him if I wasn't, now go!"

"I'm going; I'm going man, geez." Troy shook his head at Tim, as he got up from his chair and made his way over to the side of the pool where Chad was doing laps.

Chad had gotten to the far end of the pool and was about to push off and start another lap, when he saw Troy approaching him. Taking a deep breath he swam over to the side of the pool. This was what he came here to do, now was as good a time as any.

"Bit early for swimming isn't it?" Troy asked, as he crouched down by the side of the pool.

"Definitely, but I didn't really come here to swim. Shouldn't you be used to being here this early anyway?"

"Yeah I should by now; I've been doing it for long enough, so you wanna talk? We could go and get a coffee or something, my treat."

"Yeah, sounds good, I'll meet you out there in ten?"

Troy nodded. "See you then."

**TGTGTGTG**

The pair sat quietly in the nearly deserted cafe, as they drank their coffees and ran through their heads what they wanted to say. Neither knew what the other was thinking, or what happened when they left the gym after Friday's argument, but both knew now was the time for it to be sorted.

"Look Troy I'm sorry, I was out of order on Friday, I just blew off at you and I shouldn't have. You being a Dad, it just brought back some really bad memories for me. I shut down for the rest of the evening, hardly said anything to Tay just asked her for a hug, I think I really worried her."

Troy let out a slight laugh. "Yeah, I think did the same with Brie. Chad, my intention was never to upset you, I just wanted you all to know the truth about me and my life, and Jasmine is my life, my whole life, I'm all she's got, all she's ever had and I just...you guys have been so kind to me, I just wanted her to experience that as well, and when you wouldn't accept her the other day it just angered me, I'm sorry."

"Troy you shouldn't be apologising, she's your daughter I'd expect you to fight for her. She...she just reminds me of someone...someone who isn't here anymore...and seeing her it just brought back so much."

"Dude, she reminds me of Jess every day, but as every day passes I let go of Jess more, knowing I've got Jazzy to remind me of her, and now I'm starting to realise that Jess would want me to move on, and I will, when I find the balls to ask Brie out."

Chad laughed. "Well when you find them, you should ask her, she likes you_ and_ Jasmine and it's clear that Jasmine likes her as well, you're already onto a winner. Especially with all the crap going on in her life right now, she needs something good to come along."

Troy smiled across the table at Chad as they both took another long sip of coffee.

"Troy I feel like I need to explain this to you, but I've never done this before, not even Taylor knows this, although I am going to tell her, so hear me out?"

Troy looked across the table to see the vulnerability and upset in Chad's eyes and knew he just needed to talk."Tim sent me to talk to you, I think he can cope a bit longer on his own, so what's on your mind?"

"I've got a sister, she's ten years older than me and we've always been close. A little over two years ago her and her husband announced to the family that they were expecting a baby. Everyone was so happy, especially Mum and Dad, they've always loved children and now that I'm growing up the pregnancy couldn't have come at a better time. My niece, Abigail, was born on April sixteenth and she couldn't have been more perfect, everyone absolutely loved her, even me. I remember the first time I held her, it was magical, but I guess you know that even more so with having a daughter."

Troy nodded."Yep, it's a pretty indescribable feeling, even though I couldn't share it with Jess."

"You mean Jess didn't even get to hold Jasmine?"

Troy shock his head. "No, they were going to place Jasmine straight on her chest, but as soon as Jazzy was out, Jess feel back onto the bed and went quiet, she stopped responding and they took Jazzy away and started doing something to her, down there. I wanted to know what was happening, but all they would tell me was that she was bleeding too much for their liking and they needed to stop it now, then they kicked me out. Next thing I know Jess is dead and I'm a single Dad. Anyway, you're supposed to be speaking to me, not the other way round, keep going."

"Abi was a perfect baby, she hardly ever cried, she slept through the night pretty well and was an all round lovely baby. Then one morning it all ended, Tina, my sister, phoned us, from the hospital, she was hysterical. She'd gone in to get Abi, to feed her, change her, all that stuff, but Abi wasn't breathing. She tried to wake her up and at the same time screamed for her husband, Richard. He came running and they both tried to wake Abi, to start her breathing again, but it wouldn't work. They took her to hospital, but it was too late, Abi had already been dead a couple of hours, the doctors told them she'd died of cot death, she was only two weeks old."

It was then, as Chad let his head drop to the table, that Troy realised exactly why seeing Jasmine had affected Chad so much. She was only a month younger than Abi would be right now. Troy was trying to think of something to say to Chad, some way of consoling him, when he looked up, only to see Taylor walking in the leisure centre doors. She caught Troy's eye straight away and made her way over.

She smiled at Troy, as she knelt down next to Chad's chair and placed a comforting hand on his back. "Chad, it's me, please look at me."

Chad didn't want to look at Taylor, but he really wanted to know why she was here, so he turned his head to the side and looked his girlfriend in the eye.

"Why didn't you tell me? Your Mum phoned me because she didn't know where you were, she's really worried about you babe, she didn't realise how much Abi's death had affected you, you need to go home and talk to her."

"I know, but I need to finish talking to Troy, it'll be easier to talk to Mum if I can finish talking to Troy first, please Tay, I need to finish."

Taylor smile sympathetically at her boyfriend. "I can see I'm not gonna win this one, and at this time in the morning I can't be bothered to argue with you, but we need to go straight to yours after and speak to your Mum, okay?"

Chad nodded at Taylor as he sat up properly and wrapped her in a tight hug.

Troy smiled softly at the pair, as he got up to get Taylor a chair.

"Here Taylor, sit on this before you legs start to hurt," Taylor got up from the floor and sat on the chair, smiling at Troy in thanks.

"Did you want anything to drink, tea or coffee maybe?"

"Yeah, a coffee would be great, thanks Troy, I need the caffeine to wake me up, I didn't get the chance before I left home. "

Troy smile. "One coffee coming up." Troy said, as he made his way over to a very tired looking cafe worker behind the counter.

"You don't have to tell him you know? He'd understand." Taylor told Chad, as they linked their hands under the table.

"I know, but he deserves to know, he didn't deserve me kicking off in his face on Friday."

"Okay, but you owe me babe, I did not plan on being woken up at six thirty on a Sunday morning by my boyfriend's worried mother because he left the house and didn't tell her where he was going."

"Okay, enough with the guilt tripping, I get it, I shouldn't have left the house this morning without telling you or Mum, I'm sorry, can we just drop it or now please? Troy's coming back."

Taylor gave Chad's hand a tight squeeze, as Troy arrived back at the table and placed her coffee in front of her.

"Thanks Troy, you're a life guard then?" Taylor asked, as she took in Troy's red shorts and yellow t-shirt, along with his red flip flops.

"Yep, it's a great job really, unless I'm on the early morning Sunday shift, that kinda sucks, but it pays the bills."

Taylor smile as she took a sip from her coffee. "Where does Jasmine go when you're at work, and school for that matter?"

"Weekdays, so when I'm at school she goes to Butterfly nursery just down the road from East High, when I'm here my landlord's daughter, Jenni, comes round, they're my neighbours as well, so it works out quite well, especially on early morning's like today. Jenni came round still in her pyjamas and Jazzy was still asleep, it's alright for some."

"Yeah I bet," Chad said, coming into the conversation. "Listen Troy I wanna tell you why I blew off on Friday. It has nothing to do with you having a daughter; I kinda admire you for that. You didn't back away you stepped up to the plate unlike most people our age would and I really admire you for that. But I blew off because of the way your parents reacted."

"Okay, I'm confused." Troy stated.

Chad smiled. "When my parents found out they were going to be grandparents they were over the moon, I've never seen them so happy. So understandably, when Abi died they were just as devastated as Tina and Richard, maybe even more so, it took them ages to get over it. I just find it so hard that your parents had and _still do_ have the chance to be grandparents towards Jasmine, but they choose not to. I just can't get my head around the fact that there are people out there like my parents, who really want to be grandparents but can't be or lost the chance to be. But then your parents have the chance to be, and aren't, I just think it's kinda selfish, what about Jessica's parents? Are they the same?"

Troy shook his head as he took a sip from his coffee." Kinda, I mean when they first found out they were going on holiday so they let us stay at theirs until we found some place of our own, they only gave us a week, but they did give us Jess's college fund money to help us out, they figured she wouldn't be needing it anymore. After Jess' funeral I made one final visit to both sets of our parents. Although mine did hold Jazzy, they still wanted nothing to do with me. Jess' parents weren't so bad, they cried as they held Jasmine but they simply couldn't cope, Jazzy and I reminded them both too much of Jess and they simply couldn't have that in their lives, they were moving out of Albuquerque, away from all the reminders of Jess, they just wanted to start a fresh."

"That's kinda understandable I guess, they lost their daughter, they're bound to want to move on, I just...I'm sorry Troy it just angers me that they've done that to you and especially Jasmine."

Troy was silent for a minute; he didn't know how to respond to that. Sure, he thought about how his parents had treated him, he knew he'd made a mistake by getting Jessica pregnant, but he'd stayed with her and hadn't walked away, even when things got tough and scary.

But he had to face it, when he'd needed it the most, when he'd lost the person he loved the most and gained a daughter in the same day, they'd left him, all by himself in the world with no one else but his new born daughter.

"Troy? Troy, dude? You okay?" Chad's voice broke Troy from his thoughts.

"Yeah sorry guys, listen I need to get back to work, Tim shouldn't really be by himself, thanks for the chat Chad."

"No thank you, we've both got a lot off our chest this morning, I just need to go and do it again."

"You'll be fine," Troy said, as the pair got up and shared a 'man hug'. "You've got Taylor, not a lot can go wrong with her around."

Chad smiled as he turned around and wrapped an arm round Taylor's waist. "You're right there, what time do you finish work?"

"Twelve, then I'm gonna go home, let Jenni go home and then spend the rest of the day with my beautiful daughter."

"Sounds like a plan, see you later Troy." Troy waved at the pair, as they made their way out of the leisure centre, arms securely wrapped round each other.

Troy took one last sip of his coffee, as he prepared to head back to work. But, as he saw small children with their parents and grandparents he realised there was one place he needed to be right now, and it definitely wasn't at work.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy didn't even have to say anything for Tim to know the chat had really shaken him up. He could see the upset, anger and a slight look vulnerability in Troy's eyes and knew he was in no fit state to stay at work.

Any other day Troy would have argued with Tim, saying he was fine to be at work and would've busied himself with cleaning round the pool, but today he just wanted and _needed_ to be with his daughter. So, after making sure Tim was able to find cover for him, Troy thanked him and left work, four hours before his shift finished.

He walked into the flat around half an hour later, fully expecting to find Jenni curled up on his couch and Jasmine still tucked up in bed. Instead he found his daughter asleep on the couch, only she was lying on an also sleeping Gabriella, with the telly on in the background.

Troy took a double take when he realised it was Gabriella rather than Jenni on his couch and really wanted to know when she arrived and Jenni left, but he didn't have the heart to wake them, so he grabbed a blanket from the end of the couch and gently laid it over his sleeping girls.

Troy had turned the telly off and was about to walk away, to jump in the shower in an attempt to wash away all the hurt this morning's chat had caused him, when a tired voice caused him to turn back.

"Troy? What are you doing back already? Jenni said your shift didn't finish until twelve." Sleep was evident in Gabriella's voice, as she tried to sit up, only to remember she still had a sleeping Jasmine laying on her.

Troy quickly stepped back towards them and picked Jasmine up, using his skill he'd gained in becoming a parent and not waking her up.

"My shift does finish at twelve, but that doesn't matter now, what happened to Jenni? Why are you here?"

Gabriella sat up, pulling the blanket over herself, allowing Troy to sit and cuddle with his still sleeping daughter.

"I woke up early this morning, I just couldn't sleep, I was gonna go and climb in with Mum, have a girly chat with her for a bit, but she wasn't there, she'd been called into work for something. I didn't know what else to do and I needed to clear my head, so I slipped on some sweats, grabbed my bag with phone and what not in and went for a walk. I wasn't really going anywhere with a purpose, but after half an hour I realised I was closer to here than I was to home, so I thought I'd come and let Jenni go back home and back to bed. She wasn't about to say no to the offer and knowing Jasmine knew me, I paid her and she left. Jazzy woke up a little after that, she was crying and calling out for Jenni, I went in and asked her what was wrong, she told me she had a tummy ache and needed Jenni to give her a hug and make it better. I told her Jenni had gone home, but I could make it better if she was okay with that. She was, so I picked her up and we settled ourselves in front of the telly. All I remember after that is sitting on the couch with her and rubbing her tummy to make it feel better, I have no idea when we fell asleep."

Troy laughed slightly. "It doesn't matter; sounds like you both needed the extra sleep. Did she complain about her tummy any more after that?"

"A little, she just kept telling me it hurt and that she was hot, I would've given her some medicine, but I didn't know where you kept it and we must've fallen asleep again after that so I kinda forgot about it."

"Doesn't matter, she probably did once she was asleep again anyway. I'm gonna put her back to bed and then jump in the shower really quickly, you can grab some breakfast or coffee or whatever if you want and then could you meet me in my room in ten? I just I...Chad and I spoke this morning and I'd really like a hug, if that's okay?"

"Troy, its fine, don't worry, you've given me enough hugs recently, I'd be honoured to return the favour so, see you in ten?"

Troy smile at Gabriella, as he got up from the couch and cradled Jasmine in his arms as he made his way towards her room, before heading towards his room to shower and spend the rest of the relaxing with his favourite girls.

**TGTGTGTG**

"What's taking him so long Jazzy? All he needed to do was answer the door and pay the person, can't be that hard can it?"

Jasmine giggled. "Daddy slow."

"You're right there little one, why don't you go and see what you're Daddy's up to? Go see what's taking him so long."

"Okay Gabwi." Jasmine rolled over Gabriella and climbed off of the bed, before running along the corridor and into the main part of the flat to find Troy.

Gabriella smiled to herself as she rolled off the bed and made her way into Troy's en suite to freshen up a bit. She hadn't planned on staying all day, but after talking with Troy and finding out what he and Chad had talked about, she'd realised just how alone Troy felt and didn't feel right leaving him alone, so she'd promised to stay 'til Jasmine woke up at least.

When Jasmine did wake up at around midday she didn't have a tummy ache but was still running a temperature, so Troy gave her some medicine and they'd all climbed back into his bed for a big cuddle.

Now, it was dinner time and after Gabriella had received a call from Maria telling her she wouldn't be home 'til late, Gabriella took Troy and Jasmine up on their offer of staying for dinner, but only if they gave her a lift home after.

They'd agreed to this and so as Gabriella made her way out of the bathroom, she couldn't help but laugh at the squeals of the two year old girl she grown to love over the last couple of weeks.

"Gabwi save me! Gabwi help!" Gabriella looked towards the bedroom door to find Jasmine running towards her with a pizza box in her hands, and Troy not far behind.

Gabriella picked Jasmine up and spun her round. "I told you to go and see what your Daddy was up to, not pinch the pizza from him, little missy."

Jasmine giggled as Gabriella plopped down on the bed making them both bounce up and down. "Jazzy hungry and Daddy slow."

"I am not slow little missy, I was getting some drinks and was having some trouble carrying everything, so at least you helped me with that."

"Daddy we eat now? Me hungry."

"Yes, you can eat now, that pizza is for all of us though, so don't eat it all." Troy warned, as he took a seat on the bed behind Jasmine, who for a small person took up a lot of room.

"Luckily for us Gabriella, I've got the chips, so if trouble over there won't share the pizza, she can't have any chips."

Upon hearing this Jasmine immediately turned round to share the pizza, but only because she wanted some chips and Troy was her only source.

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella loved her Mum, she really did, but when she let work run her life, she couldn't help but be a bit angry at her.

"You okay?" Troy asked, as they pulled up in front of Gabriella's house.

"Yeah, you probably guessed that was Mum, she's gone away on work, she's at the airport now, she's not coming back 'til Wednesday, so I'm by myself for a bit."

"Why don't you stay with us? Grab the school stuff you'll need for the next three days, grab your clothes and other essentials and you're sorted. I'm sure your Mum wouldn't mind you being with us if you don't wanna be alone."

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks Troy." Gabriella gave Troy a peck on the cheek, before climbing over Jasmine and getting out of the truck, calling over her shoulder that she'd be as quick as she could.

Nearly an hour later, Jasmine was tucked up in bed and Troy and Gabriella were cuddled up in his.

"I have two questions." Troy stated, as he moved some of Gabriella's hair out of her face.

"Okay, ask away." Gabriella replied, as she pulled the covers further up her body.

"Now I have three questions, the first one is; are you cold?"

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh. "A little." She answered honestly, causing Troy to wrap his arms around her more tightly.

"Better?"

"Yep, but you've just asked me two questions and I don't think either of them were what you were supposed to ask me."

Now it was Troy's turn to laugh, "You're right there, okay, questions; would it be okay with you if I put your name down on Jasmine's nursery forms as another contact. They have me, obviously, but if they can't reach me they need someone else, just in case of emergencies and such, you don't..."

"Troy it's fine," Gabriella said, cutting him off. "It's completely okay to put my name down, next question."

"Thank you, next question is; will you go on a date with me on Friday night? You and me, out somewhere, no Jazzy, just the two of us."

"Yeah, that'd be nice, where you thinking?"

"I'm not sure really, maybe go to a nice restaurant and then catch a movie, it's up to you though, me and Jess always used to go out partying, drink when we shouldn't have done and well, look where we are now."

"You'll be pleased to know I'm not a party person, so you're safe on that one. Restaurant and cinema sounds great, and for the record, you may have partied and drunk and got Jessica pregnant, but you wouldn't change it, would you? I mean obviously you'd change the part where Jess died, but you wouldn't change having Jazzy would you?"

"No, of course not and although I miss Jess, if she hadn't of gone I wouldn't have met you, so I have to look at it in a good light, I may have lost one great person, but I've met another because of it."

"You really mean that?" Gabriella asked, as she tilted her head to look Troy in the eye.

"Yeah, I really do." Troy said, as he slowly leant down and met Gabriella's lips in a sweet but passionate kiss. Unlike their last kiss, this one was a proper one, not just a peck and both Troy and Gabriella felt the sparks.

They pulled back, both slightly out of breath and both in a slight daze, but both transfixed by the other.

"Brie, that was amazing."

"Really? I've kinda never done that before."

"Well I wouldn't have guessed, like I said, it was amazing."

Gabriella felt that crimson blush rush to her lips, but this time she didn't shy away from it, she leant up and gave Troy a final peck to the lips, before cuddling back into his side and turning her attention back to the telly.

Troy smiled as he pulled Gabriella and planted a kiss in her hair, one thing was for sure, Troy and Gabriella may have only known each other for two weeks, but in that time they'd grown close,_ incredibly_ close.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys chapter seven, hope you liked it!**

**I hope you're all enjoying your Christmas holidays and got all the presents you wanted :)**

**Give me a late present and:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	8. Under The Weather

**Here it is people, chapter eight, enjoy!**

Under The Weather

Gabriella sighed as she tried to cram her books into her bag.

"Having trouble there Gabs?"

Gabriella looked up from her cramming to find Chad and Taylor walking towards her.

"Yeah, I forgot to take some books home with me yesterday, so now I need to fit them in as well as today's, it's not going well."

"You want a hand? Taylor asked, as she unwrapped her arm from round Chad to give her friend a hand.

"Yeah, if you could hold my bag open, I reckon I could fit these last two in."

So, after a bit of heaving and hoeing the girls managed to fit all of Gabriella's books into her bag.

"I thought we were gonna be here for the rest of the day then." Taylor said, as she helped Gabriella shut her bag.

"Good job they've given us a half day then isn't it?" Chad said, as he shut Gabriella's locker for her. "Especially because one us of has a date to get ready for."

"Yeah, I think you may wanna rethink that one dearest because in case you haven't noticed, Troy wasn't in school today, is he alright Gabs?"

"I don't honestly know Tay, I phoned him at break and during free period but he didn't answer, I'm worried. If there was something wrong with Jasmine then he'd of phoned Mrs Bearn and gotten her to get his work and give it to me _and_ he would've answered the phone, something isn't right."

"You should go round there and check on them, something can't be right, we can give you a lift if you want." Chad offered, as they made their way out of the school.

"Yeah, I was going to..." Gabriella was cut off by her phone ringing in her pocket.

"Hello?" She answered not bothering to check the caller id.

"_Hey Gabriella, it's Julie, from the nursery, I was just wondering if you'd heard from Troy today? He didn't bring Jasmine in today and he isn't answering his mobile or their house phone, I'm worried."_

"Me too Julie, he didn't come into school today either. I'm heading round there now, we've got a half day at school so our friends are gonna give me a lift, we're supposed to be going on a date tonight, but I don't think that's gonna happen, did you want me to call you once I know what's happening?"

"_No, its fine sweetie you don't need to do that, I just wanted someone to check on them to make sure everything is okay."_

"Okay, well thanks for calling Julie."

"_No problem sweetie, just look after yourselves, okay?"_

"We will Julie, bye."

"_Bye sweetie."_

"Gabs? What's happening? Julie runs Jasmine's nursery right?" Both Chad and Taylor had heard the entire call and Taylor was voicing concern for both of them.

"Yeah she does, she was just worried 'cause Troy didn't take Jasmine in today. I really want to get round there now, you still okay to give me a lift?"

"Yes or we wouldn't have offered, we can't stay though long though, we've got a party for two very special little people to go to." Chad said, as they all got into his car and started their journey towards the Bolton residence.

"Little people? What are you talking about Danthorth?"

Chad smiled. "About a month and a half ago my sister gave birth to twin girls, I didn't tell anyone other than Taylor because we were all scared of what happened to Abi happening to them. But, they're a month and a half old now and they're both incredibly healthy for babies of their age."

"Chad, that's amazing congratulations, tell Tina and Richard I say congratulations will ya?"

"Will do, just as long as you ring or text us to let us know what's going on with the Bolton's, deal?"

"Most definitely, just get us there, I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Don't worry Gabs, he'll be okay, they both will."

Gabriella knew that, she knew they'd both be okay, but there was something in the pit of her stomach, something that was telling her otherwise.

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella sighed as she rang the doorbell for the fifth time, no one answered. She could hear the telly on, which meant they were in, but she didn't know who was watching it, she had no way of telling.

She knelt down and pushed open the letter box, realising that from there she could see into the main part of the flat, but more importantly she could be heard.

"Troy? Jasmine? Are you in there?"

She didn't really expect a reply, but she knew it was worth a shot, she also knew she had to get in there, something was_ not_ right.

She was about to give up, get up and knock on next door asking, hoping that Mike or Jenni would be in and be able to let her in with a spare key, but just as she did, a little voice grabbed her attention.

"Gabwi?"

"Jazzy, hey, are you okay?" Gabriella needed to keep Jasmine's attention, so she kept the letter box pushed open with her fingers slightly pushed through to the other side, something Jasmine seemed to notice because she grasped into them, wrapping her small hand around Gabriella's fingers.

Jasmine nodded. "Daddy in bed."

"Daddy's in bed still, is he okay?"

Jasmine shrugged." Me scared and hungwy."

"Okay cutie, it's gonna be okay. Jasmine I need you to be a big girl for me, do you think you can do that?"

Jasmine nodded and tightened her grasp around Gabriella's fingers.

"Okay good girl, do you know where your Daddy keeps his keys?"

Jasmine nodded. "Over there, on tawble." Jasmine said, as she pointed to somewhere behind a wall, just out of Gabriella's sight.

"Okay, do you think you can grab them for me and bring them back over here?"

Jasmine nodded and let go of Gabriella's fingers, before disappearing behind the wall for a few seconds. She came back with a smile on her face and the keys in her hand, happy she'd done as Gabriella had asked.

"That's great Jazzy well done, can you pass them to me through the letter box and then I can let myself in and I can check on Daddy, okay?"

Jasmine nodded and pushed the keys through the letter box to Gabriella, before standing back far enough to let Gabriella open the door.

No sooner had she done that, then Gabriella had unlocked the door and was in and Jasmine was straight into her arms.

"Hey cutie, I've got you now, you're okay, let's get you some food."

Gabriella put her bag down by the front door and carried Jasmine into the kitchen to find her a snack.

"Okay, you've got your cheesy crisps and your apple juice, I'm gonna go and see how your Daddy is, you gonna be okay by yourself for a bit?"

Jasmine nodded and kept her eyes fixed on the telly which was playing her favourite show. Now that she was happy Gabriella got up from her spot on the floor next to Jasmine and made her way down the corridor that led to Troy's room.

The closer she got, the louder Troy's coughing became, it soon became clear to her that Troy was rather under the weather.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy wasn't really sure what time it was, or what was going on around him.

He knew he was at home and that he should be at school, he also knew Jasmine was in the flat and should be at nursery.

He'd tried to get out of bed, so many times, but every time he tried he just fell back to the bed in the middle of a horrible coughing fit.

He knew Jasmine had been in, his bedroom door was opened further than he usually left it, but he must have been asleep when she did.

He'd tried calling her, trying to get her to come to him, just to make sure she was okay, if not anything else, but he couldn't.

Every time he tried his voice gave up on him or he fell into another coughing fit, he just couldn't find the voice to get her attention and that scared him.

She was two, sure she could do things for herself, but a lot of the things she needed were out of her reach for her own safety.

He could hear the telly playing as he fell in and out of sleep and only a couple of minutes ago he'd heard a noise that sounded something like their doorbell, he knew Jasmine was too small to unlock the door, so he figured the person would just go away.

Right now, he laid in bed as yet another coughing fit ran through his body. He tried to sit up, knowing it would be better for him, but he just couldn't, he couldn't find the strength to push himself up.

As the fit came to an end and he struggled to breath, he realised he and Jasmine were no longer alone in the flat.

"You're alive then." Gabriella stated, as she made her way into the room.

"Brie?"

"That's me, you don't need to know how I or why I'm here, just know I care and a lot of people were worried about you, both of you, we need to sit you up."

Troy nodded. "Jasmine?" He was still struggling to catch his breath and single words at a time were all he could manage.

"She's fine, she was scared and hungry, but she's okay now, so we just need to worry about you, come on I'll help you sit up."

Troy pushed himself up onto his elbows, allowing Gabriella to hook her arms under his and between them, they managed to get him leaning back against his pillows, which Gabriella had arranged against his headboard.

"Better?" Gabriella asked, as she sat down on the edge of the bed and took Troy's hand into hers, gently running her thumb back and forth over the top of it.

Troy nodded. "Thanks."

"It's okay, I'm gonna go and raid your cupboards for some kind of medicine, which I'm sure you haven't got, _you_ mister _no_ moving, everything is under control, you hear me?"

Troy nodded and closed his eyes, as he rested back against his pillows, having Gabriella here, already made him feel a whole lot better.

**TGTGTGTG **

"Mawia!" Jasmine exclaimed, as Gabriella opened the flat door to let her Mum in.

"Hey sweetie." Maria greeted her daughter, as she put down her bags to catch Jasmine who was running in her direction.

"Mawia, you're here!" Jasmine pointed out, as Maria picked her up and rested her on her right hip.

"That I am sweetie and do you know why?"

"Nuh uh." Jasmine answered shaking her head vigorously.

"It's because your Daddy doesn't have any medicine to make him better, he only has medicine for you, when you're ill, so Gabi phoned me and asked me to bring some over from our house."

"Okay, what's that bag fwor?" Jasmine asked pointing to a bag that looked much like the one Gabriella had used when she'd stayed over.

"That bag has Gabi's stuff in it so that she can stay here and looked after you and your Daddy while he's ill, is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, yeah yeah! Gabwi is Daddy betwer yet?"

"No sweetie, he's really ill, he's not going to be better for a while so I'm gonna have to stay with you because he needs to stay in bed and get better, but maybe later you can go and see him, okay?"

Jasmine nodded and wiggled her way out of Maria's arms to get back to playing with her dollies.

"How bad is he then?" Maria asked, as she and Gabriella made their way through to the kitchen to talk away from little ears.

"His nose is so blocked that he can't breathe through it and he's coughing like there's no tomorrow, it's horrible to watch. He has these coughing fits and once he's finished he's really struggling to catch his breath, it can't be nice for him, he was still in bed when I got here earlier, Jasmine passed me the keys through the letter box so I could get in. He had a fever as well, but I think that's now breaking, he'll have to get changed when it does because of all the sweat, but I'll deal with that later, thanks for coming over Mum."

"It's no problem honey, it sounds like Troy needs that medicine and you here to help him look after Jasmine if not anything else, you two have been through a lot together in the short time you've known each other."

"You're telling me, it doesn't look like we're gonna get our date tonight though."

"I'm sorry sweetie I know you were looking forward to that, but I think you just being here means the world to Troy right now."

"Yeah I know, could you maybe play with Jasmine for a bit while I wake Troy up and give him some of this medicine?" Gabriella asked, as she took the medicine out of the bag Maria had brought it in.

"Yeah 'course I can, you go see how Troy is, go on, we'll be fine."

"Thanks Mum." Gabriella gave Maria a quick hug before grabbing the bottle of medicine and a spoon and making her back through the flat towards Troy's bedroom.

**TGTGTGTG**

The first thing Gabriella noticed as she silently made her way back into Troy's bedroom was that his fever had now fully broken because his hair was sticking to his forehead from the sweat.

Another thing she noticed as she gently shut the door behind her was that he wasn't exactly sleeping peacefully. Troy was tossing and turning in his sleep, murmuring incoherent things as he did, making Gabriella worry even more about him than she already was.

Placing the bottle of medicine and spoon down on Troy's bedside table, she took a seat on the edge of the bed and tried to figure out the best way to wake him up.

"Troy honey you need to wake up, come on sweetie we need to get some medicine in your system." Gabriella gently shook Troy as she spoke, in the hope that the movement or her voice would wake him up.

Grunting Troy rolled in Gabriella's direction and did eventually, after a bit more persuasion, open his eyes.

"Hey," Gabriella smiled down at Troy as she brushed some hair out of his eyes.

Troy smiled up at Gabriella and was about to greet her, like she had him, when a coughing fit took hold and left him gasping for breath.

Gabriella immediately took action and sat him up, leaning him against her shoulder as she arranged his pillows against the headboard, before leaning him back against them.

"Is Jasmine okay?" Troy may've been recovering from the coughing fit, but nothing was going to stop him asking after his daughter.

"She's fine; Mum's playing with her because I asked her to bring over some medicine seeing as you only have stuff for Jazzy, here get this in you." Gabriella answered him, as she took the lid off of the bottle of medicine and poured some onto the spoon for Troy to take.

Pulling a face as he swallowed the medicine, Troy allowed Gabriella to give him another spoonful before settling himself back amongst the pillows. "What am I gonna do Brie? I've never been so ill that I couldn't get out of bed before, how am I going to look after Jasmine and I have to work tomorrow."

"Stop worrying, I got Mum to bring over some of my stuff, so I'll stay and look after Jasmine, and you, while you do everything you can to get yourself better, okay?

"Thanks Brie."

"Don't worry about it okay? You stay here and rest, get yourself better, I'm gonna go and tell Mum she can go and then make Jasmine something for dinner, alright?"

Troy nodded, as his eyelids drooped and he was soon fast asleep. Gabriella rearranged the pillows under his head so that he didn't hurt his neck, before pulling the covers up over him further and quietly leaving the room.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Gabwi?"

"Yes my little one."

"What does under the weather mean?"

"Where did you hear that?" Gabriella asked, as she finished dishing up their fish fingers and chips and walked over to the table with two plates, placing one down for her and one in front of Jasmine.

"Mawia said it; she said Daddy was under the weather." Jasmine answered, as she picked up one of her fish fingers.

"It means that he's ill, that's all. _You_, you little trouble maker use a knife and fork, or your fork at least; you'll make your fingers all messy. Before I sit down you need a drink, what would you like?"

"Water pwease."

"Coming right up."

Jasmine watched Gabriella's every move as she got a plastic cup for her and a glass one for herself down out of the cupboard, filled them both with water and then made her way back to the table, placing the right one down in front of her before sitting down and taking a sip out of her own.

"I'll make you a deal Jazzy, I've got some homework to do so I need you to play by yourself for a bit while I do okay?" Jasmine nodded and waited for Gabriella to continue.

"When I've done that I'll go and see how your Daddy's doing and if he's awake you can go and see him for a bit before your bath and bed, does that sound like a good deal?"

"Yeah, that sounds gweat, I'll play quietly Gabwi, I pwomise."

"Alright, keep your wig on! You need to finish your dinner first before we even think about stuff like that."

"Sowy Gabwi, but I wanna see Daddy." Jasmine said not making eye contact with Gabriella, thinking she'd done wrong.

"I'm not angry with you sweetie, I know you wanna see your Daddy and you will just as long as he's up to it okay, you don't wanna get sick as well do you?"

Jasmine shook her head still not making eye contact with Gabriella, so Gabriella got up and sat on the seat next to Jasmine's, pulling her onto her lap as she did.

"Jazzy look at me, Daddy's gonna be okay, he just needs some rest alright? But I'm staying here so I can keep an eye on him and play with you as well, he'll get better soon, I promise."

Jasmine simply nodded and cuddled closer to Gabriella, making no move to get off of her lap. So that's where she stayed for the rest of dinner, cuddled close to the person she'd come to love almost as much as she did Troy.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Okay, Jasmine's asleep, everything is turned off, the door is locked, so where are your clean bed sheets?"

"Huh?" Troy was awake and a lot more alert because of the medicine he'd taken, but he was still very weak and hadn't even attempted to move from his bed.

"In case you hadn't noticed you had a fever, which broke, meaning you and your bed are all sweaty and horrible, so you're gonna take a shower and change into some fresh clothes while I change your bed, so where are the sheets?"

"In the cupboard in the hall." Gabriella smiled at Troy on her way out of the room and reappeared moments later with fresh bed clothes.

"I'm not sure about me showering, I'm not exactly gonna be stable on my feet."

"I know, but you'll feel better afterwards, I promise. I'll help you there and back, I can't help you shower, but I'll help you as much as I can, so what do you wanna change into?"

"Just grab t-shirt and some bottoms out of the bottom draw of the please." Troy answered, pointing to the chest of draws situated against the wall opposite his bed.

Gabriella grabbed Troy some fresh clothes and then between them they sat him up, got him out of bed, into the bathroom and by then Troy had managed to get himself slightly stable on his feet.

"Okay, if you bring your clothes and towel out when you're done, I'll put them in the washing machine with the bed stuff, anything else you want to go in?"

"No that'll do thanks, the detergent is under the sink, thanks for this Brie, I really appreciate it."

"It's not a problem, honestly, you get in the shower, and if you need me shout, okay?"

Troy nodded silently and shut the door of his en suite, annoyed with himself for being ill today, when he could've been on date with Gabriella, a date he was sure would've made them something more than friends.

**TGTGTGTG**

He never thought he could sleep through a whole day, but apparently he could and he did.

Troy had just woken up, and according to the note Gabriella had left him today was Sunday, not Saturday as he'd first thought. The note told him that Maria had picked them up to take them back to hers because Jasmine was very bored. So once he'd showered, got dressed and eaten he should call her and she'd come to collect him.

So, now he was stood outside his apartment block waiting for Gabriella to come and get him and it looked like he wasn't going to have to wait much longer because she was here.

"You never told me you had a car." Troy said as he got into the car.

"I don't, this is Mum's you did see it the other day, but I'm insured to drive it as well so don't worry, I haven't stolen it or anything."

"I never thought you would, I can't believe you let me sleep all day yesterday."

"Yeah well you needed the rest and Jasmine and I were fine together so it was no problem. I did wake you a couple of times to give you medicine and so that you could go to the toilet, but you never really woke up properly."

"Oh, I thought I was dreaming all that stuff, I remember it happening, but it seemed to blurry in my mind for it to actually have happened."

"Yeah, I thought you were actually going to fall on me at one point, but we made it and no one was injured so it was all good."

Troy laughed but soon realised that was a bad idea when a coughing fit took hold and didn't leave again until Gabriella pulled into her driveway.

"You are not going to move from the couch once we get in there, you shouldn't have left the house really, but Mum said the change of scenery would do you good, seeing as you actually woke up today."

Troy smiled. "Could I maybe see my daughter before I'm trapped to the couch, I haven't seen her since Friday evening; we've never been apart that long before,_ ever_, even though we were in the same flat."

Gabriella smiled and nodded just as the front door opened and Jasmine and Maria appeared in the doorway, Jasmine waving madly.

"I think she misses you just as much as you've missed her, come on lets go inside, you can sit down and rest some more, even though that's all you did yesterday."

**TGTGTGTG**

"Daddy?"

"Hello?" Troy answered, making Jasmine giggle from her spot on the floor.

"Do you like Gabwi?"

"Of course." Troy answered without any hesitation.

"Gabwi?"

"Yes cutie?"

"Do you like Daddy?"

"Of course." Gabriella repeated Troy's answer from earlier, no hesitation coming from her either.

"So, why aren't you together?"

"Because," Troy started, pulling Jasmine up onto his sofa, so that she was sitting sideways on his lap, her legs in Gabriella's. "Because I was too ill to go on our date the other day and I didn't get the chance to ask her."

"So ask her now." Jasmine said, her left arm over Troy's shoulder playing with his hair.

"Okay," Troy turned to Gabriella and took a deep breath. "This wasn't exactly how I planned on doing this. I was going to ask you on Friday evening, but because I decided to be ill I didn't get the chance so, Gabriella Montez, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Pwease say yes Gabwi." Jasmine spoke up causing the young pair to laugh.

Gabriella stopped pretty quickly though, remembering the seriousness of the conversation.

"Yes," she said, making Troy stop tickling Jasmine to look at her. "Yes, I'd love to be your girlfriend."

Troy smiled, as he leaned over Jasmine and pulled Gabriella into a hug.

"Thank you, you've played such a big part in our lives recently, I couldn't let you go, you've come to mean way too much for me to do that."

Gabriella smiled, as she leaned her forehead against Troy's. "You should know I'm a beginner at this, you're my first boyfriend, so can we take things slowly?"

Troy nodded slightly, as he kissed Gabriella straight on the lips, not caring about the fact that his daughter was sitting on his lap or that her Mum was in the other room, he was too happy to care about things like that.

He was wrong about the latter though, Maria wasn't in the other room, she was in the doorway of this one, and she'd seen the entire thing, right from Jasmine asking the pair if they asked each other, to Troy and Gabriella sealing it with a kiss.

Maria had wanted something _or_ someone good to come into Gabriella's life for a long time now; she just hadn't expected it to be a seventeen year old boy _and_ his two year old daughter.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, hope you liked it!**

**I hate doing this, but girls I've got some serious boy issues and I need your help. Boys, if you wanna help you can, but I figured this was kinda a girls thing, although a boy's perspective wouldn't go a miss! If you're mad enough to help me let me know in your review, thank you :)**

**Anyway as always guys:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	9. A Weekend Full Of Surprises

**Sorry it's a bit later than planned, but anyway; here's chapter nine, enjoy!**

A Weekend Full Of Surprises

"So, you'll drop him off at mine about five then Chad?"

"Yeah about that time, between then and half past anyway, do you think you'll be done shopping by then?"

"I dunno, maybe, maybe not, if we're not then he'll just have to wait on the front porch for us to get back. We won't be much later than five though, there's only so much shopping a two year old can take."

"Fair enough, Tay I'll get to yours after I've dropped Troy off, so a little later than normal, okay Bolton hand 'em over, we've got practise to get to."

"Alright, alright, go say goodbye to Taylor or something." Chad stuck his tongue out at Troy, as he made his way over to Taylor who was now leaning against her car after saying goodbye to Gabriella.

"Here, take 'em but please be careful with her." Troy said, as he handed Gabriella the keys for his truck and then wrapped his arms round her waist to pull her into a hug.

"I have driven your truck before Troy, don't worry I'll be fine."

It was a Friday, the day before Troy's eighteenth birthday and two days before Troy and Gabriella's one month anniversary, something which meant a lot to them both.

Troy and Gabriella hadn't tried to hide their relationship when they'd gone back to school on the following Monday, their friends knew it was bound to happen at some point anyway and everyone else was just going to have to deal with it.

During the past couple of weeks the boys had found out about Troy's ability to play basketball and had twisted his arm into joining the team, claiming someone like him was just what they needed.

Troy had agreed after Gabriella had told him she'd pick Jasmine up after nursery and take her back to hers, leaving Troy to just pick her up on his way home. She'd walk from the school to the nursery and then they'd walk home to hers. The walk wasn't a long one, but it wasn't exactly a short one either, so it usually meant Jasmine fell asleep pretty quickly upon arriving at Gabriella's, leaving Gabriella the perfect opportunity to do her homework, but it also meant that Gabriella was then free to play with Jasmine once she woke up from her nap.

Today was no different except for the fact that Gabriella was borrowing Troy's truck so that she and Jasmine could go shopping once she'd been picked up and buy him some presents and some more supplies for tomorrow's surprise party. Although Gabriella was a completely safe driver and had driven Troy's truck before, he knew how much of a death trap it could be and still wasn't happy with her and Jasmine being in it alone.

"Yeah I know you'll be okay, you always are, I'm more worried about what you two are going to buy me. Having you as my girlfriend and Jazzy as my daughter is better than any present."

"Yeah so you keep saying, but we are still going to buy you some presents and because you won't tell us what you want, well you could end up with anything." Gabriella responded, as she lifted her arms and wound them round Troy's neck.

"It's a good job I love you two." Troy said, as he leaned down to give Gabriella a good bye kiss.

"And I love you too," Gabriella responded, as they pulled back from the kiss. "But if you don't let me go your daughter won't love you for making me late to pick her up, so let me go Bolton!"

Troy sighed in defeat, before giving Gabriella another quick peck, letting her go to get in the truck and then standing back on the pavement to wave her off.

"Dude," Chad said pulling Troy's attention away from his girl. "You are so unbelievably whipped."

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella walked into Butterfly nursery fifteen minutes later than planned, but it was all Troy's fault and she was more than willing to tell Julie and Jasmine just that.

Because she'd arrived later than planned she'd expected the nursery to be quiet, knowing the other children would've already been picked up, but she wasn't expecting it to be this quiet. Jasmine was a quiet child, she knew that, but she at least expected there to be a bit of noise, she knew Julie had a soft spot for Jasmine and would play with her at any opportunity she got.

The sight that met her as she turned into the main area explained why it was so quiet. Jasmine was sat on Julie's lap in the soft play area as Julie read her a story and asked her questions about it, but Jasmine didn't seem to be responding.

She watched as Julie looked up and realised she was there, before turning her attention back to Jasmine and letting her know. Jasmine's head popped up as she learnt this news and she immediately shot up from where she was sitting, running straight over to Gabriella her arms held out. Gabriella caught Jasmine and swung her round, before pulling her close and settling her on her right hip.

"Hey cutie, sorry I'm late, Daddy didn't want me to leave him." Jasmine didn't respond, just buried her face into the crook of Gabriella's neck.

Julie appeared in front of the two, after heading into the back of the nursery once Jasmine had gone to greet Gabriella. She shot Gabriella a sympathetic smile and rubbed her hand up and down Jasmine's back, letting her know she was there.

"Jasmine had a bad afternoon, didn't you sweetie?"Julie spoke directly to Gabriella, but still made sure that Jasmine was involved as well, even if she didn't respond.

"Really? What happened?" Gabriella asked, as she jiggled Jasmine up and down a bit, trying to stop the silent tears she could feel falling on her neck.

"She had a good morning, played outside for a bit, painted Troy a picture and played with the doll's house, but things went downhill at lunch time. She sat with some of the others today and we put Rosie on the table, leaning against her lunch box. We kept an eye on her all the time, she was quite happy to be there, as long as she didn't have to interact with the others very much. Basically, one of the others took an interest in Rosie, only she decided that Rosie would look good covered in milk."

"Oh," was all Gabriella could say, as she swapped Rosie from her right hip to her left, the feeling in her right arm slowly going.

"Jasmine obviously wasn't very happy, which is understandable and we immediately moved her away once we realised. I took Jasmine into the kitchen and we tried to wash the most of the milk off, but the best way is going to be for Rosie to have a wash in the washing machine with some detergent, something to take the smell away and make her all fresh again, Jasmine was obviously very upset for the rest of the day."

"Rosie smelly now." Jasmine murmured, as she lifted her head from against Gabriella's neck and rubbed her eyes.

"I know sweetie, but when we get back to mine we'll put her straight in the washing machine and then she'll be all clean and fresh for when you go home, okay?"

Jasmine nodded and settled herself back against Gabriella, as Julie held up a plastic bag.

"We put Rosie in here because she's all wet and smelly still, so that's for you," Julie said, as she handed the bag to Gabriella. "And this is the picture Jasmine painted this morning; I'll leave it to her to tell you what it is."

"Thanks Julie," Gabriella said, as she took the picture from Julie. "Have a nice weekend."

"And you, doing anything nice?"

"It's Troy's birthday tomorrow so we're gonna have a party, aren't we Jazzy?"

Jazzy nodded, as she once again lifted her head from against Gabriella. "Supwise." She said quietly, as a small smile made its way onto her face.

"Yeah it is a surprise, but it's gonna be a pretty boring party if we don't go and buy his presents, so what do ya say? Shall we go shopping?"

Jasmine nodded and snuggled herself back against Gabriella, as she and Julie said their goodbyes, before Gabriella carried her out to Troy's truck.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy walked into the Montez residence that afternoon expecting to see his girlfriend and daughter playing together like usual, today this wasn't what he was met with.

Today, he was met with an empty living room and voices coming from the kitchen, so after dropping his bag near the front door, he headed in that direction.

Upon entering the kitchen he found it empty but could hear the voices coming from what he knew to be Maria's utility room. Walking towards the utility room he found Jasmine sat on the floor in front of the washing machine which was obviously on, and Maria standing behind her folding some laundry.

"What's going on in here?" Troy asked making his presence known as he leant against the door frame.

"Daddy!" Jasmine didn't get up from her spot on the floor, but held her arms up for Troy, silently asking him to come to her.

"I've got to come to you have I? Charming!" Troy said, as he knelt down next to Jasmine and gave her a hug. "What you doing down here cutie?"

"Rosie." Jasmine simply stated, as she pointed to the washing machine.

"Rosie?" Troy asked confused, as he turned to Maria for an explanation.

"Long story short, someone decided it'd be a good idea to give Rosie a shower with milk today. Obviously Jasmine was very upset about it so, Julie took her to try and wash some of it but it didn't work and Jasmine couldn't have Rosie for the rest of the day so she was a bit down. Gabi told her Rosie could go in the washing machine when they got back here and so here we are."

"Fair enough," Troy said, as he stood up to talk to Maria at his normal height. "Where is Gabi?"

"In bed, she went really dizzy and light headed on me so I made her lay on the sofa for a bit, but she fell asleep so I woke her up and made her lay down up there, that was almost an hour ago, I was going to go and check on her in a bit, but seeing as you're here now you go and I'll stay on washing machine watch with Jasmine."

"She didn't mention anything about feeling bad at school, did they still go shopping?"

"Yeah, they went shopping, I think maybe the heat of the shops was a bit much for her and Jasmine said there were a lot of people, so I don't know."

"Okay, well I'll go check on her, see you in a bit Jazzy." Jasmine turned and waved to her father before quickly turning back to the washing machine, while Troy and Maria shared a smile as he left to go and check on Gabriella.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy hadn't known Gabriella very long, but in the short time he had he knew that she was rarely ill, and even when she was, she hardly ever went to bad, she claimed there was no point she couldn't sleep during the day.

Today went completely against that point. Gabriella was curled up in bed, breathing evenly, indicating she was asleep and there was a blue bucket placed beside her bed, Maria hadn't mentioned anything about Gabriella saying she felt sick, maybe she hadn't told her, Gabriella was good at not telling people things, especially important things.

Troy made his way over to her bed and kicked off his shoes before lying down next to Gabriella, to his surprise she rolled over and looked at him with her big brown eyes, big brown eyes that were glossed over with tears.

"Hey, you okay?" Troy's voice was soft as he rolled onto his side to face Gabriella, his right arm draping over her waist and his left hand going up to push her hair away from her face.

Gabriella nodded and tried to smile reassuringly at Troy, but the tears that escaped from her eyes told him differently.

"Yeah you're fine, 'cause the tears are really convincing, come here beautiful." Troy wrapped both his arms round Gabriella, allowing her to lay her head on his chest, as she let the tears silently begin to fall.

"Maria said you went all light headed and dizzy and then you fell asleep so she sent you up here to rest. I come up here slightly shocked that you're actually in bed in the first place to find a bucket next to your bed and you buried under the covers, what's going on? You never said anything at school about feeling bad, if you had I would've bought you home, you know that."

Gabriella sniffed and lifted her head to reach under her pillow to find a tissue to blow her nose on. "I don't know," Gabriella answered as she finished blowing her nose and rested her head back on Troy's chest. "I haven't been one hundred percent all week, but I just brushed it off, figuring it was a girl thing, hormones or something, this morning I woke up with a horrible headache, but I took painkillers and it went away so I didn't think much of it. When Jazzy and I were driving home after shopping it came back, I took some more painkillers and again it went away. I put Rosie in the washing machine and cuddled up of the couch with Jazzy. When Mum came home we got up and went in the kitchen with her, that's when I went all dizzy, I don't remember it all too much after that, everything was really fuzzy. Basically, for some unknown reason right now, I feel like crap."

"Why didn't you tell me before? You've been looking after Jazzy practically all the time this week 'cause Jenny is ill, that will of taken its toll on you, if you'd of said something I could've asked Maria to look after her sometimes, you know she would've."

"Yeah I know, but you know me I don't rest when I'm ill, I just get on with things and hope it'll go away, if I'd of said something you and Mum would've only fussed over me anyway, I didn't want any fuss, I didn't think there was anything seriously wrong, I just thought I was a little sleep deprived that's all."

"Yeah well obviously there is, so now I am gonna fuss over you, because you feel like crap and obviously feel sick, but what's with the tears? I get that you feel sick, but you aren't the kind of person of cries because they don't feel great."

"This is a big weekend for us...for you and I'm sick. The one time I don't need to be sick, I'm sick, I'm never sick, now look at me, I should've seen it coming, I guess."

"Why would you've seen it coming babe? When we get sick it just happens, it sucks, but that's just how it is."

Gabriella sighed. "I've also been feeling nauseous all week, I didn't know why and I didn't want to sounds stupid by asking Mum so I just ignored it, I should've known it'd come eventually."

"What'd you mean you should've known it would come eventually, have you actually been sick?"

Gabriella nodded and nuzzled her face against Troy's chest as more tears began to fall.

"Hey now, come on you're okay, you're gonna be fine sweet lady, shhh." Troy wrapped his arms more tightly around Gabriella and pulled the covers up further over her body as she began to shake.

"C-can you h-help me get changed? I just w-wanna go to sleep." Gabriella asked, as she wiped away her tears, annoyed at herself for crying again.

"Of course I will sweetie, what do you wanna change into?"

"There's some grey sweats, a pyjama top and your wildcat hoodie on my chair, can you grab them?"

Troy kissed Gabriella's head before sliding out of bed and grabbing the items of clothing.

Slowly over the next ten minutes Troy helped Gabriella to change without getting out of bed, and apart from the one bucket grabbing moment in the middle of it all, they'd done it pretty well.

"I'm gonna go and see if Maria's got any painkillers she thinks will be okay for you to take," Troy said, as he helped Gabriella lay back down and pulled the covers back over her weak body. "You, pretty lady, get some rest; we'll worry about tomorrow when it comes to it, for now we need to get you better, okay?"

Gabriella nodded sleepily, as sleep finally began to take its hold on her, for what felt like the first time in a long time.

**TGTGTGTG**

They'd had a great day so far, just father and daughter together and having fun. Jasmine didn't really know what today was, she knew it was Troy's birthday, but let's face it, she is only two. But she knew that Troy would get presents and that they were going to celebrate with the Maria and Gabriella later on.

This was the first birthday since Jasmine had been born that Troy was going to spend with people other than his daughter. He loved Jasmine, of course he did, but it meant he would be able to have an adult conversation and receive some presents from people for the first time in a long time.

"Daddy let me out! Let me out!"

"Alright hand on a minute, Maria's still there look."

Jasmine looked to the doorway of the Montez household to find that Maria was indeed still in the same place she had been since they pulled into the driveway a couple of minutes ago.

As Jasmine got caught up in waving to Maria, Troy was able to get out and walk round to her side of the truck to get her out of her seat and then out of the truck.

"There you go trouble, now you can go and see Maria."

"Thank you Daddy." Jasmine gave Troy a sloppy kiss on the lips as he put her down so she could go and greet Maria, giving him the chance to grab her bag from the passenger foot well of the truck.

"Happy birthday Troy!" Maria greeted him as he made his way over. "How does it feel to be eighteen?"

Troy laughed. "Not much different actually." Troy replied, as he gave Maria a hug.

"Jasmine sweetie, Gabi wants to see you upstairs, you know where her room is right?" Jasmine nodded, "Okay honey, just be careful with the stairs, use the banister, alright?" Jasmine once again nodded and made her way into the house and up to Gabriella's bedroom.

"How's she doing?" Troy asked, as he followed Maria inside and through to the kitchen.

"She's not too bad today, she was sick again last night and then had a cry because she was ill and this weekend was important to you both, she got herself really worked up. But I gave her something to settle her stomach and then I laid with her for a bit with the telly on in the background, she quickly fell asleep again. She had a good night's sleep as far as I know and she's had some plain toast this morning which she's kept down and is very happy about, she doesn't wanna spend all day in bed."

"I'm surprised she hasn't left it already, do you think it's okay for me to go up and see what they're doing?

"Yeah I'd say so, just knock before you go in."

"Will do, thanks Maria."

"No problem sweetie, now go! Your girls await you!" Troy laughed at Maria, as he made his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs to find his girls.

**TGTGTGTG**

Any other Saturday she'd of stayed tucked up in bed and probably wouldn't of emerged until late in the afternoon, but today wasn't any other Saturday, today was Troy's birthday and she was determined to get out of bed and enjoy today as much as she could.

Maria had woken her up a little after ten o'clock and had given her some breakfast which she'd happily kept down. She then gingerly made her way into her bathroom to have a shower and get herself ready for the day. Maria then came back with wrapping paper and together they wrapped her and Jasmine's presents for Troy, the only thing left to do was get Jasmine to sign her card for Troy.

"Gabwi?" Jasmine questioned, as she stuck her head round the door to see what Gabriella was doing.

"Hey sweetie, you can come in, I've got something you need to do." Jasmine slipped through the gap in the slightly open door and went over to the bed were Gabriella was sat, grasping onto the covers to help her get up onto the bed.

"Gabwi better?" Jasmine asked, as she moved to sit in between Gabriella's legs.

"Almost sweetie, here I you need to sign this. " Gabriella said, as she handed Jasmine her card for Troy which had a badge saying best Dad in the world attached to the front. Gabriella had already written in the card for Jasmine, knowing Jasmine couldn't yet write, but that she would want to add her own special signature to the bottom.

Jasmine settled the card in front of her on the bed and then selected a felt tip from the packet Gabriella had gotten out for her and began signing the card.

"Done Gabwi."

"Okay sweetie, well done, lets pop it in the envelope and then you can give it to Daddy when you give him his present, okay?" Jasmine nodded and allowed Gabriella to put the card in the envelope and then watched when she put the card with the presents she'd placed by the side of the bed.

Gabriella was about to send Jasmine to go and get Troy when there was a knock at the door followed by Troy's voice.

"It's me, can I come in?"

"Yeah, 'course you can." Gabriella answered, as Troy pushed the door open and made his way inside.

"Happy birthday babe!" Gabriella exclaimed, as Troy leant down to give her kiss.

"Thanks, how you feeling today? Maria said you slept pretty well, as far as she knows, and you've kept your breakfast down so it must be a bit better, right?" Troy's concern was obvious, as he kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed next to his girls, pulling Jasmine onto his lap and wrapping an arm round Gabriella.

"Yeah, I feel a bit better, I'm not one hundred percent yet, nowhere near but I feel better than yesterday, and _yes_ I did have good night's sleep, I'm not hiding anything."

"I didn't think you would be, Jazzy will you sit still, you're hurting me."

"Don't wanna, pwesents Gabwi?" The young girl asked, as she turned to look at the still pale brunette.

"Yeah I think so, you wanna do yours first?" Jasmine nodded and climbed off of Troy's lap and then the bed to get her present off of the floor.

"Here Daddy," Jasmine said, as she walked round to Troy's side of the bed and handed him her present, before pulling herself back up onto the bed. "Open the card first!"

"Okay," Jasmine watched as Troy unwrapped his arm from round Gabriella, opened the card and his face lit up with a smile at her card. It was superman, but the card said super Dad and he was saving the world, hence the badge saying best Dad in the world.

"I love it Jazzy thank you," Troy said, as he took the badge off of the card and attached it to his top.

"Pwesent now!" Jasmine exclaimed, pushing her present closer to Troy.

Troy started to rip the neatly wrapped paper until he came to a medium sized white box. "A box? Thanks Jazzy, I've always wanted one of those!"

"Open Daddy." Jasmine said, as she poked Troy for winding her up.

Troy opened the box to find a brightly coloured mug with a figure of another superman, this one also saying super Dad. Next to the figure was some writing_, 'To the best Dad in the world, love you always, Jazzy x.'_

"Jazzy its lovely thank you." Troy said, as he pulled Jasmine in for a hug.

Jasmine smiled and wrapped her small arms around Troy, giving him a special birthday present hug. "Tell him Gabwi."

Gabriella smiled, knowing exactly what Jasmine was talking about. "She wants me to tell you it comes from a special shop in the mall, where you pick which mug you want and then you can have a message put on it, we decided on the message together, didn't we Jazzy?"

Jasmine nodded, as she kept her hold on Troy. "Coffee?"

"Yeah Jazzy, Daddy will definitely use it for his coffee, thank you so much sweetie." Troy gave Jasmine a big kiss on her cheek, before picking up his discarded wrapping paper and placing it on her head.

"Jazzy, why don't you go and see what my Mum's up to? I'm sure she'll find you something to eat if you're hungry."

"Okay Gabwi." Jasmine gave them both a big sloppy kiss, before sliding off of the bed and carefully making her way down stairs to find Maria, her new hat balanced perfectly on her head.

"Now that she's gone, come here beautiful," Troy said, as he wrapped his arms back round Gabriella and buried his head in her hair, inhaling her lovely scent.

"You smell nice," Troy murmured, as he moved his face from Gabriella's hair to give her multiple kisses on her forehead.

"Thanks, its vanilla. So wildcat, how's your birthday been so far?" Gabriella asked, as she nuzzled Troy's chest a few times before settling her head down on his shoulder.

"Good thanks, all though I think I'm missing a present."

"Oh yeah, Mum's gonna give you hers later."

"Now my birthday isn't so good, are you telling me you forgot to get me a present Montez?"

"Oh, my present, that's down here," Gabriella answered simply as if she had no idea what he was talking about all along and rolled over enough so that she could pick up her present and card for Troy.

"If you don't like it I can change it, I really don't mind, but I like it and Jazzy likes it so..." She stopped when she was cut off by Troy.

"Brie, if you'd stop rambling for just a minute, then I can open it and tell you if I like I or not, can't I?" Gabriella nodded shyly and handed Troy his present before settling back amongst the pillows.

"What is it with you two getting me boxes today?" Troy asked, as pulled the wrapping paper off to find yet another white box, this one smaller than Jasmine's.

"We just know how much you like them, now come on, open the flipping box will ya!"

Troy chuckled at Gabriella's eagerness before opening the box to find a watch, and an expensive looking one at that.

"Gabs, it's amazing," Troy was pretty much speechless as he took the watch out of the box and placed it on his wrist.

The watch itself had a black strap and a white face with black hands and numbers. The back was silver and Gabriella had gotten a message in graved on the back, _'Happy 18__th__ birthday babe, love you, G x' _

"You like it?"

"Like it? Babe I love it, it's absolutely fantastic, thank you so, so much," Troy answered and leant over to Gabriella to give her the most breath taking kiss she'd ever experienced.

"Brie I can't believe you got this for me," Troy said, examining the watch on his left wrist. "It must have cost you loads."

Gabriella shrugged. "So what if it did? It's _my_ birthday present to _you_, so I can spend as much as I want and _you_ can't do anything about it."

"You're definitely feeling better aren't you?" Troy asked, as he opened his card and read over it, before leaning over to give Gabriella a kiss on the forehead as she thought.

"No, not really, but by teasing you I forget how bad I really do feel, although I am kinda hungry, can we go and see what Mum and Jazzy are up to?"

"Yeah, 'course we can, I love you Brie." Troy said; as he gave Gabriella one last kiss before going downstairs.

"I love you too babe." Gabriella replied, as she pulled out of the kiss and took Troy's offered hand to lead her downstairs.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Don't tell me they're in the utility room again," Troy said, as he and Gabriella arrived downstairs to an empty kitchen.

"I very much doubt it; unless they've spilt something else on Rosie that is, come on, let's check outside." Gabriella took hold of Troy's hand and pulled him through the back door into the back garden.

"SURPRISE!" Troy stopped dead in his tracks, all of his friends from school were in Gabriella's back garden, and at the centre of it all were the gang.

"Did you know about this?" Troy asked, as he turned to Gabriella, still in complete shock.

"Yeah, you ready for a party?"

"Yeah, I think so, are you?" Troy asked, knowing Gabriella should probably still be in bed.

"I'll be fine Troy, you go say hi to everyone I'll go sit with Jazzy, alright?"

"Thank you," Troy gave Gabriella a quick kiss before going to greet _his_ guests, while she wandered down to her old swing set where Jasmine was playing, trying to keep away from all the very tall people. 

"Hey Jazzy, what ya doin'?" Gabriella asked, as she approached the small girl.

"Pwaying, where's Daddy?"

"He's just saying hi to everyone, he didn't know they were coming so he's gonna spend some time with them, and I've come to play with you, okay?"

Jasmine nodded and went back to playing by herself, so Gabriella took a seat on one of the swings and gently started swinging herself back and forth with her feet.

"Gabwi?" Jasmine asked, a few minutes later.

"Yeah sweetie?"

"Me have a go?"

"You wanna go on a swing?"

"Yes pwease."

Gabriella smiled and got up from her swing to pick Jasmine up and place her on the swing next to hers.

"Hold on tight okay? I don't want you falling off, you'll hurt yourself, so if you think you're gonna slip you need to tell me, alright?

"Okay Gabwi."

Gabriella gently started pushing the swing until she felt like Jasmine was at a reasonable height and then she just gave the occasional push, letting Jasmine enjoy the feeling of being on the swing.

"Me fwying."

"Yeah you are, do you like it?"

"Uh huh, look Daddy's coming." Troy was indeed approaching his girls so Gabriella slowed the swing down so that Jasmine could give Troy a hug and so that she could sit back down.

"There's food on the deck, why don't you go and get some, the gang will help you."

"Daddy come?"

"Yeah I'm gonna come in a minute sweetie, I just wanna talk to Gabi about something, okay?"

"Okay Daddy, bye Gabwi," Gabriella smiled slightly at Jasmine, as Troy put her down and she ran back to the house.

Troy watched her until she'd safely made it to the deck and was currently being held upside by Chad, before turning his attention to Gabriella.

He walked over to the swing set and held his hands out to her, pulling her up from her seat and wrapping his arms around her, holding her close.

"Brie listen, you and me both know that if today weren't my birthday you'd be in bed right now, am I right?" Gabriella nodded from her spot against Troy's chest. "I'm not gonna make you go back to bed 'cause I know you wanna be involved, so I've got something set up inside for you, you okay with that?" Gabriella once again nodded and allowed Troy to pick her up and cradle her in his arms.

Burying her face in the crook of Troy's neck Gabriella stayed in his arms until she felt him trying to put her down. Detaching herself from Troy she found herself on the couch in the living room with Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi, some party food, a blanket and some painkillers.

"The girls have offered to stay in here with you and chat or watch a movie, whatever, I just want you to rest, take some painkillers and try to eat a little more, okay?"

"Yeah I guess, you okay with it though? I thought we were supposed to spend today together with Jazzy?"

"We were, but you're not well and that's more important than spending time together, we can do that anytime, besides you and me have tomorrow."

"How come? Where's Jazzy gonna be?" Gabriella asked, as she pulled the blanket over herself.

"Here with your Mum, while we're at mine, so rest Montez!" Troy finished, as he gave Gabriella kiss to the forehead and headed back outside to check Chad hadn't completely messed with his daughter's head.

Gabriella looked round at her friends smiling faces as Troy left the room.

"What?" She asked, knowing they clearly knew something she didn't.

"Gabi just wait 'til you see what he's gonna do for you tomorrow, that boy has got a real romantic side."

"Thanks for that Shar, now I'm gonna keep guessing 'til I find out," Gabriella said, as a pout formed on her lips.

Sharpay just stuck her tongue out at her friend and turned the telly on, hoping to distract Gabriella from what she knew would be an amazing day tomorrow.

**TGTGTGTG**

Sharpay was right when she said Troy had a romantic side, a really big, lovable romantic side, one Gabriella hadn't quite gotten used to.

Maria had taken her to Troy's at eleven and they'd found Troy and Jasmine already waiting for them outside. After strapping Jasmine's car seat into Maria's car the pair were on their way and Troy and Gabriella were able to start their anniversary celebrations.

As Troy had led her into the apartment she'd found fairy lights hung up all around the place, with the curtains closed and the main lights off, creating a real romantic atmosphere.

They'd exchanged gifts, the usual chocolates, perfumes and after shaves, it was only their one month anniversary after all. Troy had then excused himself to the kitchen leaving Gabriella curled up comfortably on the couch, considering she still wasn't feeling to great she'd done well to get out of bed this morning.

Troy had then moved her from the couch to the rarely used dining table where they ate his incredibly tasty chicken stir fry with noodles. Gabriella had offered to help with the washing up, but Troy had declined her offer and simply taken her back to the couch and told her to rest, promising her it wouldn't be long before he joined her.

It wasn't. Twenty minutes later Troy had joined her on the couch and the pair were now a mass of limbs, Troy lying on his back with Gabriella lying on top of him listening to his steady heart beat, a blanket tightly wrapped round them both.

"Thank you, today has been...amazing, I really couldn't have asked for more, so thank you."

"You're more than welcome honey, what you did for me yesterday was completely amazing, most of all the watch, I never expected that, so this is my way of thanking you."

"Well I love it, when'd you do it all? You left mine pretty late last night."

"Last night and this morning, I tidied up last night after I'd put Jazzy to bed and then we decorated everything this morning. We almost forgot about packing Jazzy's overnight bag because we got so wrapped up in the decorating, but we made it."

"Does it feel weird not having her here? You've never spent the night apart before, right?"

"No we haven't, but I'm not feeling too bad about it, knowing she's with Maria helps a lot because I know how much she adores her, plus I get to spend some quality time with you, something we don't get to do enough of between school , basketball practises, me working and us both looking after Jazzy, we only really see each other alone at school, and that's only a few brief minutes here and there, kinda sucks really."

"Mmm, I guess, but let's just make the most of now, _especially_ because we don't get enough of it."

Troy nuzzled his face in Gabriella's hair and just enjoyed the loving embrace they were sharing.

"I love you Troy." Gabriella broke the silence, as she leant up to place a kiss on Troy's jaw line.

"I love you too Gabriella, I love you too."

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is people, at one fifteen in the morning, there it is! I hope you like it! It's the longest one yet, so hopefully it's just as good :)**

**I wanna say a big thank you to zanessastories1225788, we've had some great chats recently and she's kept me smiling recently, so thank you! If you get a chance check out her stories, she's a great writer :) **

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! **_**IT MEANS THE WORLD!**_


	10. Making It ThroughTogether

**Here's the next chapter for you guys, hope you enjoy it! I'm not sure how much further I can take this story, I think I've got enough ideas for this chapter and the next, but after that I'm not too sure where I'm going so... **

**I did intend for this to be longer than that, but I seriously don't know where to take it without making it rubbish. If you've got any ideas I'll happily hear them but I really think this story has run its course.**

**Sorry to those of you who like the story but it's not being liked as much as it could be and I feel starting a fresh would be a good idea. I'm not gonna stop writing it, I'll finish writing it and then start my new story, which will hopefully receive a good response, so keep a look out for that :)**

**I'm done rambling now so, enjoy chapter ten! (There's been a bit of a time jump here :))**

Making It Through...Together

Today was the day so many young people all over the world looked forward to, the last day of school before the Christmas break.

Jasmine hadn't been at nursery all week, it closed on Wednesday for a major revamp and she'd been ill on the Monday and Tuesday, so her break had started early, although being sick isn't really a good thing.

Since they started dating Troy had picked Gabriella, they'd drop Jasmine off at nursery and then head on to school, so when Troy realised Jasmine was sick on Monday morning he needed to phone Gabriella. She'd responded by saying that her Mum had finished work for the Christmas break and had offered to look after Jasmine if Troy still wanted to go to school, she'd looked after a sick Gabriella and could easily do the same with Jasmine.

Troy had taken Maria up on her offer, not wanting to miss school unless he really had to, so Jasmine had stayed with Maria all day while he and Gabriella had gone to school. The same had happen for the rest of the week and as Jasmine got better, she and Maria had had a lot of fun, baking cakes and finishing some last minute Christmas shopping.

All in all things had been going pretty perfectly since Troy's birthday, but all good things had to come to an end. Yesterday, both Troy and Gabriella had had bad nights at their respective homes and neither had phoned the other like they'd wanted to; they'd just ignored the world and snuggled down in the bubble that was their bed.

That was a bad idea because upon arriving at school this morning the pair had ended up biting the other's head off and now they hadn't talked to each other all day. They never had a big argument like this before, they never really argued, and now neither one knew how to sort it out, although from the sounds of things Troy would be the one to make the first move.

"I know I was harsh to her this morning, but she's a tough girl, us arguing isn't going to make her cry."

"Yes I know that Troy, that's why I'm telling you she is currently sat in the library crying her eyes out. You know Gabi doesn't cry very much and you've been through some tough times together. Troy please, I know something is obviously going on for you as well at the moment, but I also know that if you sort things out with Gabi she'll help you get through whatever that is, so..."

"Okay I get the point Taylor; I'll go talk to her, thanks for keeping an eye on her all day. I was kinda out of order this morning."

Taylor shrugged. "Don't worry about it Troy, besides she gave back as good as she got. Look I've gotta go, Chad's waiting for me, you'll be okay, just tell her what's going on and hopefully she'll talk to you as well," Taylor summed up as she gave Troy a hug and then started on her way down the corridor. "Just text one of us, let us know you're both okay, we'll tell the others, alright?"

Troy gave Taylor a small nod as she shot him a quick smile and made her way towards the front of the school to meet Chad. Troy finished collecting his things from his locker and after taking a deep breath started making his way towards the library, constantly going through what he need to say to his very upset girlfriend.

**TGTGTGTG**

He knew exactly where in the library she'd be and didn't hesitate to make his way there, but he wasn't prepared for what he found.

Gabriella was curled up in the foetal position on one of the bean bags, her back was to Troy but it was obvious she was crying, her body was shaking violently.

Silently he made his way over to the bean bag in front of hers and settled himself into it, lying down so that he was at eye level with her. Her big brown eyes looked into his blue ones and his heart immediately broke, she was obviously scared and upset over something, and what had he done to help, shout at her, he had a lot of making up to do.

But before he got the chance to say anything, she spoke up first, breaking his heart even more, "I-I'm s-sorry."

"Baby, you have nothing to be sorry about, I should've realised you were upset this morning and I didn't, I'm sorry."

"But I s-shouted at y-you and I know t-there's something n-not right w-with you as w-well Troy."

"Yeah there is, and we need to talk about why we're both so upset, but first you need to stop crying, your shaking is scaring me honey."

"I'm s-sorry; I'm kinda c-cold as well." Troy smiled softly at Gabriella, as he sat up and took off his hoodie, only to gently help Gabriella sit up and slide it over her head, before pulling her onto his lap and simply allowing her to let out all of her emotions for whatever had made her this upset.

He'd never seen her cry for this long before and it was starting to scare him, but the tears were slowing down and hear shaking wasn't quite as violent.

"Okay pretty girl, talk to me, what's gotten you so shaken up?"

Gabriella buried her face further into the crook of Troy's neck, tightened her grip on him and took a deep breath before speaking. "My Dad came round last night...and things...things got really out of hand."

"Okay, what happened?" Troy knew this was more than just seeing her Dad again, and so kept his soothing hand running up and down her back, reassuring and relaxing her.

"He started shouting at Mum because she filed for divorce, something he's obviously not too happy about. I didn't like listening to him speak to Mum like that so I went in and told him to leave us both alone and that he'd brought this on himself. Then he turned to look at me, I thought he was just gonna shout at me, but he...he...he hit me Troy."

"Oh Babe, why didn't you phone me? I would've left work and you know it."

"Yeah I know, but I wouldn't even let Mum near me afterwards, I just ran up to my room and locked the door, I just fell onto my bed and cried I don't know how long for, but after a while I got changed and cuddled down in bed. I wanted so badly to call you, but I couldn't get my head round it, let alone tell you."

"What happened to your Dad?"

"I don't know, I think Mum must've kicked him out, I vaguely heard shouting when I was in my room, I wasn't really listening though, I don't want anything to do with him anymore. All I know is that he left and I hope he never comes back." The tears had started falling again and Troy tightened his grip round her even more, slowly rocking them from side to side, hating the fact that she'd gotten into this state.

"Where did he hit you sweetie?"

Gabriella didn't answer verbally, but leaned forward to grab a mini packet of tissues out of her bag. She took one out before putting the rest away and then ran it down the left side of her face, effectively removing the makeup she put over the injury to stop questions being asked.

Troy watched as Gabriella winced and continued to remove the makeup from her face. Her Dad had hit her just under her eye and there was a clear bruise already formed, but there was also a small cut, Greg must've been wearing a ring.

"Brie sweetie, that's a really bad cut you've got there, have you put anything on it, to try and make it go down, it's really swollen."

Gabriella shook her head and crumpled the tissue in her hand. "I didn't know what to do about it, Mum hasn't seen it so I couldn't ask her, I didn't want to show her 'cause I knew it would just make her feel bad. I cleaned the cut last night 'cause it bled a little and then this morning I just put some makeup over it, I didn't want people asking questions, least of all you, I needed to find a way of telling you myself, I didn't want it to be like this though."

"Me either sweetie, but things don't always turn out the way we like them to. When we get back to yours we need to put some ice on it, okay? Hopefully it'll go down a little then, I think you'll probably want some painkillers as well, I bet your heads hurting."

"It is, I managed to grab some this morning when Mum came to let you in, but there was only two left in the pack and I didn't want Mum to realise there was none left, so I just took one, my head really hurts Troy, and the crying has just made everything worse."

"I know honey, I know." Troy pulled Gabriella back against him and that's how they sat for the next few minutes, in their little heaven, both thinking about what to say next.

"Troy? Why are you so upset?" Troy knew the question was going to come, he just didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing he'd wanted to do since last night, he broke down crying.

"Troy? Babe, what's going on? Talk to me, please."

When Troy showed no sign of wanting to answer her, Gabriella lifted her head from his shoulder and cupped his face in her hands.

"Babe, please, you've just helped me talk about what happened with Dad, now I wanna help you, so talk to me Troy, please honey."

"She's dead Brie, she's gone, never coming back and he couldn't even be bothered to find me and tell me, he didn't even tell me at all."

"Troy, who's dead? Jasmine's okay isn't she?" Gabriella moved Troy's head so that they were looking each other straight in the eye, chocolate brown on electric blue.

"Jasmine's fine, my Mum, she's dead, and my Dad the heartless...he didn't even try to tell me, it was my old neighbours who sent me a letter. They didn't even know for sure I was actually at that address for sure Brie, but they still sent the letter, just on the off chance, they thought I had the right to know, I do don't I Brie? I have the right to know my Mum has died, don't I?

"Yeah sweetie you do, you so do, come here honey, come on," Gabriella pulled Troy into her open arms and simply allowed him to cry out all of his emotions, just like he had with her.

"I think we should be heading home, Mum and Jazzy will be wondering where we've gotten to." Gabriella said, as Troy pulled back from her hold and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands.

"I think you're right, I was gonna call you last night Brie but I couldn't. I didn't want Jazzy to see me like this so I just put some rubbish on the telly and laid down in bed watching it, I must've fallen asleep soon after that, I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, neither of us do, we need to stop thinking about everyone else and look after ourselves for a bit, have you gotta work tonight?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah, I really don't want to though, it's just me and Tim tonight, I know as soon as we sit down he'll start asking questions about Jazzy and life in general, I just know I won't be able to take it."

"Okay listen, this is what we're gonna do; we're gonna head back to mine and try to greet Jazzy like we normally do, once she's off doing something else we'll ask Mum if we can speak to her in the other room, we just have to tell her what's happening, she'll understand. She'll phone Tim for you and explain, I'm sure he'll understand what's happening. We'll get through this together Troy, I promise."

"I know we will, I love you Brie, so much."

"I love you too honey, and don't you forget it." The pair shared a quick kiss, before getting up and straightening themselves out and making their way out to Troy's truck to head back to the sanctuary of Gabriella's home.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy had seen Maria in caring Mum mode a couple of times over the past couple of months, with Gabriella, Jazzy and even himself, but today he saw her in serious Mum mode, something he's only witnessed when Gabriella and Jasmine had both been ill.

As soon as they'd walked through the front door Maria had known there was something up with both of them and because Jasmine had fallen asleep, she'd dragged them straight through to the kitchen and sat them both down for a serious 'Mum talk.'

Maria had sat in silence and listened to what the pair had to tell her, she was in shock to say the least. She knew Greg had hurt Gabriella badly when she wouldn't let her near her face to take a look at it. She knew at some point Gabriella would break down and she knew the arms of the person she broke down in would most probably be Troy's. What she hadn't expected was the young couple to argue and spend the day even more upset before that happened.

When they'd told her why Troy was so upset, she'd immediately stood from her place at the table and taken the broken young man into her arms, giving him the motherly comfort he was so desperately searching for.

As Troy's tears stopped and he started to pull himself together, Maria pulled Gabriella into the hug and whispered some encouraging words into their ears, as they held each other in the comfort of her arms.

"It's gonna be okay sweethearts, it may not seem that way right now, but it will. It's not gonna be easy, you need to understand that, but we'll make it through this together, all of us together, I can promise you that."

"Daddy? Why you and Gabwi cwying?" Jasmine's tired voice caused the young couple to pull away from Maria and wipe at their eyes, willing the tears to stop falling.

Gabriella wasn't as bad as Troy and so walked over to Jasmine and picked her up, holding her tightly as she walked back over to Troy. Handing a now crying Jasmine over to her Dad, Gabriella slipped his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Maria.

"Can you phone Tim on his mobile and tell him Troy won't be in tonight? He'll understand Mum, but he'll be worried, he thinks of Troy as the son he never had. But Troy can't go to work tonight Mum, Tim will ask him too many questions and it'll be too much for him."

"Sweetie, it's okay, I'll call Tim, stop worrying, you know he'll understand. Just go and help Troy calm down and talk to Jasmine. Explain to her as best you can, she just needs reassurance at her age, she's only crying because you two are. When she's calmed down, bring her to me and then you and Troy need to head over to theirs and collect their things. They're gonna stay here for a bit, it's up to him how long for, but at least a couple of days, you understand?"

Gabriella nodded and gave her Mum a hug, before making her way through to the living room where Troy had taken Jasmine in an attempt to try and explain things to her in a place that was comfortable for them both.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Okay, so after stating about twenty times that she wasn't tired and that she loves the bed because it's so bouncy she finally fell asleep, even though she was practically asleep through the whole thing anyway," Troy stated, as he made his way back down the stairs and plopped down on the couch next to Gabriella.

"Yeah well you shouldn't have wound her up so much then should ya?" Gabriella asked, as she laid down and rested her head in Troy's lap, his hands immediately starting to run through her hair that was spread out behind her on the couch.

"Yeah well, she needed cheering up."

"Troy, you made her chase you around the entire bottom half of the house, I wouldn't call that cheering up, I'd call that winding her up."

"Hey, she was laughing wasn't she?"

"Yeah, to the extent that she was struggling to breathe," Maria added into the conversation after she came back in from washing up and joined the young couple on the couch.

"Okay, remind me never to cheer up my daughter when I'm around you two, or at least not to that scale anyway."

Maria laughed. "Troy, you cheered her up and that's what matters, just next time, make sure you give her the chance to catch up on her breathing every now and them."

"Yes ma'am," Troy said, as he saluted Maria and then grabbed the blanket off of the back of the couch to place over Gabriella, who had since rolled over and had buried her face into his stomach.

"You tired babe?" Troy asked, as he moved his hand back to Gabriella's hair to continue its soothing motion.

"Yeah, but I don't wanna go to bed yet, can we just stay here for a bit? I'm all ready for bed, it's not like I need to change, you just need to carry me up there."

"Alright, we'll stay here and if you fall asleep I'll take you upstairs, but no moaning if you happen to wake up, okay?" Troy asked, with a poke to Gabriella's stomach.

She simply nodded and snuggled herself further against Troy in the hope he'd just drop the conversation. She knew he'd picked up on her being down, but she didn't want to talk about, not now in front of her Mum. She just wanted to stay where she was, content and comfy against Troy.

**TGTGTGTG**

The wind felt nice as it blew against her, it made the pain she was feeling go away. The pain of her parents getting a divorce, the pain of her boyfriend being completely broken because his Mum died and his Dad couldn't tell him and the pain that was pounding in her head from her injury and she suspected, from all her crying.

"Brie? What are you doing? It's half two in the morning, why are you out here? It's freezing."

Gabriella turned to look at Troy who was trying to wake up as he stood in the doorway leading out onto her balcony.

"I, I can't sleep, I just can't, everything hurts Troy, it hurts so much and I don't know how to make it go away." The tears that were already falling were now coming out at full speed, as Gabriella fell to her balcony floor and started hitting it, crying hysterically, pain obvious in her face.

Troy stood there in shock, unable to move and stop Gabriella from causing herself even more harm. He knew she was hurting, but he didn't know it was affecting her_ this_ much.

Troy managed to come to his senses at the same as Maria entered the room, she heard the banging and the voices and immediately knew she was needed.

She walked past Troy, gently squeezing his arm as she did and then settled herself on the floor in front of her daughter. She quickly grabbed Gabriella hands to stop her causing herself more pain, and then gently pulled her daughter towards her. Holding Gabriella against her chest sideways, Maria began to rock her from side to side, whispering soothing words in her ear, needing to calm her down, and fast.

"It h-hurts Mum, e-everything h-hurts."

"I know honey, I know, but we need to go inside to sort that out, okay? So how about we get you back inside and into bed with Troy while I go and find you some painkillers, alright?

Gabriella nodded and then seemed to properly process what her Mum had said. "Troy?"

"He's here honey, he's right here, look he's just there, in the doorway," Gabriella looked up and indeed there stood Troy, worry written all over his face.

It was then that Gabriella realised that Troy needed her right now as much as she needed him and so held her arms up to him, like Jasmine so often did when she wanted to be held. Troy stepped forward and picked her up, just like he would Jasmine.

With her arms and legs securely wrapped around him, Troy tightened his grip on her, turned and took her back into her bedroom and into bed. Knowing Maria was here to help, Troy didn't worry about hearing his daughter's cries from down the hall, he knew she'd take care of Jasmine, while he focused his attention on Gabriella.

Five minutes later Maria came back, painkillers and water in one hand and Jasmine being held up by the other.

As Troy took Jasmine from Maria and cuddled her against him, Maria walked round to Gabriella's side of the bed and managed to get her to sit up for long enough for her to take the painkillers.

She placed the water on the bed side table and then turned her attention to Troy. "Are you okay with them both? I can take Jazzy with me if you like."

Troy shook his head, "Its fine thanks Maria, they're both pretty much asleep now anyway and I doubt we'll be getting up until the afternoon anyway."

"Okay Troy, well if you need me, you know where I am."

"Yeah, thanks Maria."

Maria smiled softly and then turned to leave the room, stopping in the doorway to turn and watch Troy settle himself in between his girls, wrapping an arm around each of them and holding them close as if his life depended on it.

Maria smiled, they all looked so peaceful, cuddled up in Gabriella's bed, Troy protecting_ his_ girls. They may've hit a hard patch, but Maria knew one thing, her daughter's life had changed when Troy and Jasmine moved to town, and she was pretty sure theirs had as well.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, chapter ten, hope you liked it!**

**It's quarter to one in the morning, I'm tired and I'm off to bed, so if they're any mistakes, I'm sorry.**

**This chapter isn't great, but like I've already said, I'm having trouble with ideas for this story, and this is all my mind could come up with, sorry if it isn't up to standard:(**

**Next chapter: Christmas!**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	11. Best Christmas Ever

**ATTENTION PEOPLE! Those of you who didn't read the authors note at the beginning of the last chapter need to go back and read it, it will explain a lot of things, I'm not gonna type it all out again :)**

**This is the last chapter guys; sorry it's ending so soon, but sometimes things like this have to happen, it's just the way it is :P**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and if you could give me your view on the whole story when you review it'd be fantastic, thank you!**

**Charli, this one's for you:) **

Best Christmas Ever

It had been a few years since Maria was the first one to be awake on Christmas morning; she was usually woken up by Gabriella, who still woke up early on Christmas morning, despite being a teenager now.

Maria hadn't expected to be woken up by Gabriella this Christmas morning, she'd managed to gain herself a cold a few days after the Christmas break started and had spent a lot of last night coughing and struggling to breathe, for Maria to say she was happy to have Troy there, would be an understatement. He'd been able to look after Gabriella while Maria looked after Jasmine, and although they swapped every now and then to spend time with their daughter, Gabriella was ultimately happy cuddled up in Troy's arms.

Although Maria hadn't expected Gabriella to wake up anywhere near her normal time of eight thirty ish, she _had_ expected to be woken up by another excited person, who had specifically been told to go her because Gabriella needed lots of sleep.

This was why as Maria walked past the guest room, after popping downstairs to make herself a cup of tea, she heard a little voice whispering quietly.

"Jasmine? You're awake!" Maria stated happily, as she pushed open the bedroom door to find Jasmine sat on the bed playing with Rosie and her dollies.

"Mawia! Santa been?" Jasmine asked, sleep still evident as she spoke and played.

"Yeah he's been honey, but we need to wait for your Daddy and Gabi to wake up first, so why don't we go and sit in my room? We'll watch some telly and play with your dollies, sound good?"

Jasmine nodded and tried to gather her dollies up into her arms, rather unsuccessfully.

Maria laughed, "Come here sweetie, let me help, I'll carry these back to my room, you find your dressing gown and come and find me, alright?"

Jasmine nodded as Maria left the room, and kept a hold on Rosie as she climbed off of the bed and walked over to where her pink, fluffy dressing gown lay over a chair to slip it on.

Maria sat on her bed and drank her tea, watching whatever cartoon Jasmine had chosen to watch, despite the fact, the small girl wasn't even watching it anymore.

A few more minutes passed by in silence for the pair until loud coughs could be heard from the other end of the house.

"Looks like Gabi's awake, you wanna go see if she's okay?"

"Yes pwease."

"Okay, you go and see her and your Daddy and I'll go and get them some coffee, okay?"

Jasmine nodded and slid off of Maria's bed, heading in the direction of Gabriella and Troy.

**TGTGTGTG**

Her nose was blocked, her eyes were streaming and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep, but she couldn't because another round of coughs had just started to make its way through her small body.

She sat up in hopes of stopping the coughing quicker, it didn't, nothing made it stop, she just had to sit there and ride it out.

As she tried to take a breath in between coughs, she felt two strong arms wrap around her. She felt his left hand start rubbing up and down her back in a soothing motion and his left wrap round her body and settle on her stomach.

Finally, as the coughing came to an end she fell to her right to lean against Troy, as she tried to regulate her breathing by taking some deep breaths.

"I got you Brie, you're okay, just keep taking those deep breaths, you're fine sweetie."

"I hate this," Gabriella said, as she pulled the covers up around herself more and allowed Troy to pull them back against the headboard.

"I know you do Brie, but you're better than you were, at least remember that."

Gabriella nodded and cuddled herself closer to Troy. "I know that, but I'm always ill when I really don't need to be, like on your birthday or today, it's Christmas Troy and I'm ill, I should be enjoying today, not feeling like absolute rubbish."

"I know babe, but we'll get some coffee into you to wake you up and then we can open some presents, that's bound to cheer you up and then you can just rest on the couch with Jazzy, 'cause I'm telling you now pretty lady you ain't lifting a finger all day."

"Troy, that's not fair, I always help Mum at Christmas and Dad's not even here to help, I _need_ to help her."

"You do not _need_ to do anything baby, other than trying to get better that is, I can help Maria, so stop worrying."

"I always worry; I'm a girl, that's what we do."

Troy just chuckled and placed a kiss into Gabriella's hair before cuddling down further under the covers, knowing Gabriella needed a bit longer to wake up properly."

"Brie?"

"Hmmm"

Troy smiled to himself at Gabriella's now half asleep state. "Merry Christmas."

Gabriella smiled with her eyes still closed and rolled over so that she was on her front, half laying on Troy. "Merry Christmas to you too babe." She opened her eyes to look at Troy, only to close them again when Troy pulled her into a breath taking kiss.

The pair pulled back from the kiss and opened their eyes, smiling at each other before Troy pulled Gabriella fully on top of him, letting her rest her head on his chest, right above his heart.

They lay their content and in their moment for a short while longer, before a knock at the door brought them out of their bubble.

"Come in," Troy answered and watched as the door opened slightly and Jasmine's face appeared in the gap.

"Me come in Daddy?"

"Yeah sweetie, you can come in Gabi's awake she's just resting."

Jasmine smiled and opened the door all of the way, before walking over and standing at the side of the bed.

"Mewy Cwistmas Daddy."

"Merry Christmas to you too Jazzy, now come here and give me my Christmas hug pretty girl," Troy said, as he patted the empty spot on the bed next to him.

Jasmine placed Rosie on the bed and then pulled on the covers to help herself onto the bed. Troy had to laugh at his daughter's technique, but still he helped her, by putting his hand on her bottom and giving her a little push.

"Thank you Daddy," Jasmine said, as she picked up Rosie again and cuddled against Troy's right side as he held his arm open for her.

"How long have you been awake sweetie?" Troy asked, as he twirled both of his girls' hair around his fingers.

Jasmine shrugged, "Mawia up."

"Is she? Where is she?"

"Right here," Maria answered, as she entered the room. "I was making you two coffee though, so you need to wake Gabi up again."

Troy laughed, "She's awake, just resting, that last coughing fit was a bad one. You gonna sit up for your coffee Gabs?"

Gabriella groaned, but started to stretch anyway, finally managing to sit, allowing Troy to do the same so they could take their coffees from Maria.

"Did you tell them Jazzy?"

"Tell us what?" Troy asked, as he wrapped his left arm back round Gabriella, knowing she'd still want to snuggle.

"Santa been!" Jasmine exclaimed happily.

"That's good then," Gabriella said in between sips of coffee. "Can we stay in our pj's when we open our presents Mum, please?"

"I don't know Troy, should we let them?"

"Yep," Troy answered. "I wanna open my presents now, not in half an hour when we've all gotten changed."

"Pj's it is then; I'm gonna head down to put the chicken on, you guys coming?"

"Yep, it's present time ladies, let's go!" Troy said, as he picked Jazzy off and climbed off of the bed, before waiting for Gabriella to join them and head downstairs.

**TGTGTGTG**

Jasmine continued to giggle, as Troy continued to cover her in wrapping paper. She was sitting on the floor, with her back up against the couch, until Troy started to pile the wrapping paper up around her; now all that could be seen of Jasmine was her head.

Gabriella and Maria laughed. "I think you should take your first picture with your new camera Mum."

"I think so too," Maria agreed, as she picked up her new silver digital camera, that Troy and Gabriella had given her for Christmas, and went to stand in front of Jasmine.

"Alright Troy out of the picture, I want one just of the wrapping paper monster, say cheese Jazzy."

Jasmine didn't say cheese, but pulled the cheesiest grin she could, as Maria took multiple photos of her.

"I'm done now Jazzy, thank you, would you like to take a picture?"

Jasmine nodded and wiggled her way out of the wrapping paper pile. "Can I take on of Gabwi and Daddy?"

"I don't see why not, alright lovebirds, say cheese."

Troy and Gabriella wrapped their arms round each other, as they turned to the camera and pulled the cheesiest faces they could, while saying cheese at the same time.

"Done, "Jasmine stated, as she handed the camera back to Maria and went back to her pile of presents.

"Jazzy it's time to go and get dressed; do you want to wear anything special?" Troy asked his daughter, as he got up from the couch pulling Gabriella with him.

Jasmine nodded and picked up the new red velvet feeling dress Maria had given her as one of her presents.

"You wanna where your new dress?"

Jasmine nodded, "Gabwi, you do my hair?"

"Yeah I'll do your hair, how shall we do it?"

"Pwaits!" Jasmine exclaimed, as she held her hands up to Troy for him to pick her up.

"If you want Gabi to do your hair in plaits what do you need to say to her?" Troy asked, s they started to make their way upstairs.

"Pwaits pwease Gabwi?"

"Plaits it is little girl, I'll see if I've got any special Christmas hair bands as well, shall I?"

Jasmine nodded eagerly, making Troy laugh as he put her down in Gabriella's room, before he headed off to the spare room to find her the necessities she needed to go with her dress.

"Do you like all of your presents Jazzy?" Gabriella asked, as she got out her clothes for the day.

"Yeah, Gabwi like?"

"Yeah, I love the necklace your Daddy gave me, do you like it?" Jasmine nodded happily at the necklace Gabriella was now wearing. It was a silver chain, with a sliver heart hanging from it, a small diamond placed on the top at the middle. Gabriella had been completely shocked when Troy had given it to her, saying she couldn't possible except that when she had only brought him some basketball merchandise. But Troy had told her to shut up and put the necklace on her because she was the reason he'd started playing basketball again, she was the one who deserved his heart.

"Alright girlies, we need to get dresses, eat some breakfast and then start taking all of _someone's_ toys out of the boxes, 'cause it'll take _ages,_ and she's be given _loads_ of them."

"And whose fault would that be?" Gabriella questioned, as she took her clothes into her bathroom, allowing Troy and Jasmine to get dressed in her room.

**TGTGTGTG**

Jasmine cuddled closer to Gabriella, as they sat on the couch watching one of Jasmine's new princess DVDs. Jasmine had had a tiring day and so while Troy and Maria, washed and tidied up, she and Gabriella had been ordered to go and relax, so they popped the DVD in the player and cuddled up.

"Jazzy?" Maria said, as she entered the room. "Does your Daddy always get water everywhere when he washes up?"

Jasmine nodded. "It's funny!"

"It's definitely funny, he's just giving himself another job to do by splashing water everywhere, he is very good at washing up though."

"If you're mocking him over his washing up skills, you should see him iron. He can do it, he's really god at it for a guy, but he has one of the most funny techniques I've ever seen," Gabriella said. "I tried to help him out, but he said he knew what he was doing his way so I left him to it, it's still good fun to watch though."

"You guys aren't making fun out of my house work skills are you? 'Cause if you are I'm never gonna talk to you ever, ever again."

"Fine, see if we care," Gabriella replied. "Just bear in mind that if you stop talking to me, I won't let you hug or kiss me anymore."

Maria laughed. "Face it Troy, you've lost that one, everyone knows you can't go long without being able to hug Gabi."

"It's fine," Troy replied, as he plopped down on the couch next to Gabriella, pulling her legs onto his lap and giving her a foot rub. "I wouldn't be able to go long without talking to you guys anyway."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Cuddle?"

"You can have a cuddle if you come here; I wanna give Gabi a hug as well."

"Okay," Jasmine answered, as she carefully crawled over Gabriella and landed softly in Troy's lap.

"Have you had a good day so far?" Troy asked her, as he pulled her close and let her cuddled into him.

"Yeah, it's been fun."

"Good, I'm glad you've had a good time," Maria answered. "Do you wanna ask Gabi your question now?"

Jasmine nodded and slid off of Troy's lap to pick up one final present from under the tree, one that Troy and Gabriella had been told not to go anywhere near.

She walked back over to the couch and placed the present on Gabriella's lap, before climbing back up onto Troy's.

"Open it pwease." Jasmine asked.

Gabriella carefully unwrapped the present to find a white box. She opened the box to find a mug like the one Jasmine had given to Troy on his birthday, only this one said _'Please be my Mummy?'_

Gabriella looked at the mug and then at Troy and her Mum, completely unsure of how she should react to this.

Daddy? Can Gabwi be my Mummy?"

Troy didn't expect this and therefore had no idea how to react; he sat speechless until Maria spoke up.

"She asked me the other day if you were her new Mummy, I honestly didn't know how to react, I wasn't sure how you'd react Troy, but she was adamant on finding out and wanted Gabi to have a special mug like yours, if I've over stepped the line, I apologies."

"No Maria, you haven't over stepped the line at all, to be honest I had thought of questions like this, but not now, far off in the future, I just wasn't ready for it, clearly she is. Jazzy, would you like Gabi to be your Mummy?"

Jasmine nodded, "She like Mawia."

"Okay then, I've got no problem with that, what about you Gabi?"

Gabriella didn't know what to think and had already let the tears fall, over such an amazing gift from the little girl.

"Are you sure Jazzy? I've never been a Mummy before; I might be really bad at it. I don't wanna try and replace Jess Troy."

"You wouldn't be Brie, Jess would want Jazzy to be happy, and if you becoming her Mum makes her happy then I'm sure she's smiling down on us right now, right Jazzy?

Jasmine nodded, "Mummy Gabwi?"

Gabriella looked down at the mug and then up at Jasmine, "Yeah sweetie, Mummy Gabi."

Jasmine smiled at that answer and moved across into Gabriella's lap, cuddling close to her, not like the fact she was crying.

"Mummy Gabwi no cry."

"I'm not sad honey, I'm happy, that's the best present anyone has ever given me, thank you so much Jazzy." Gabriella said, as she safely put her mug in the box and hugged the small girl close. She buried her face in Jasmine's hair and continued to let her happy tears fall, as she felt Troy's arms wrap around them both, letting her know he more than definitely approved of her answer.

"You know," Maria started, making the three of them look at her. "When I first met you Troy, I knew Gabi had changed, and then the first time I saw you all together I knew life would never been the same for any of us, _now_ I think that special little girl has just changed our lives."

"She has. I didn't know what to expect when we moved, I just wanted a fresh start for us both, away from bad memories, I didn't care what else happened. Now, like you say Maria, I feel as though making such a tough decision has changed our lives for the better, I haven't been this happy since before Jess died and that's definitely because I met you Brie. Everything that has happened since I met you had made us what we are today, it's made me a stronger person and a better Dad, and it's made you a Mum, something I didn't think Jazzy would have for a very long time yet. What I'm trying to say is that coming here has, and always will be, life changing."

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, chapter eleven, the end; I really hope you liked it.**

**I'm sorry if it didn't turn out the way you thought it would, or if you thought the ending was lame, but that just felt like the right way to end it.**

**Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, it means that world, but please could you do it one last time?**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!**


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